Interface magnetic anisotropy in epitaxial superlattices

Abstract

We have studied the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy of Co/Pd superlattices grown under identical conditions by molecular-beam epitaxy along the three crystal axes: [001], [110], and [111]. Our measurements unambiguously demonstrate that the large systematic variations of the anisotropy energy with crystal orientation result solely from differences in the volume contribution to the anisotropy. We find the perpendicular interface anisotropy to be independent of the epitaxial orientation (0.63\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}0.05 erg/${\mathrm{cm}}^{2}$), and hence to be an intrinsic property of the Co/Pd interface.