Tailoring the Spin Reorientation Transition of Co Films by Pd Monolayer Capping
Benito Santos Burgos,
Raúl López-Martín,
José A. De Toro,
Chris Binns,
Andreas K. Schmid,
Juan de la Figuera
Affiliations
Benito Santos Burgos
Instituto Regional de Investigación Científica Aplicada (IRICA) and Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain
Raúl López-Martín
Instituto Regional de Investigación Científica Aplicada (IRICA) and Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain
José A. De Toro
Instituto Regional de Investigación Científica Aplicada (IRICA) and Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain
Chris Binns
Instituto Regional de Investigación Científica Aplicada (IRICA) and Departamento de Física Aplicada, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha, 13071 Ciudad Real, Spain
Andreas K. Schmid
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA
Juan de la Figuera
Instituto de Química Física Blas Cabrera, CSIC, 28006 Madrid, Spain
We have characterized the magnetization easy-axis of ultra-thin Co films (2–5 atomic layers, AL) grown on Ru(0001) when they are capped with a monolayer of Pd. The addition of a Pd monolayer turns the magnetization of 3 and 4 AL-thick Co films from an in-plane to an out-of-plane alignment, but not that of a 5 AL-thick film. These observations are explained in terms of an enhancement of the surface anisotropy. The exposure of the sample to hydrogen, CO or a combination of both gases does not overcome this effect.
