Cu cap layer on Ni 8/Cu(001): Reorientation and T C-shift

Abstract

Adding a non-magnetic Cu overlayer on Ni 8/Cu(001) is known to induce the reorientation of the magnetic easy axis from in-plane to out-of-plane and to reduce the Curie temperature. In this paper both effects are described on the same footing using an effective Heisenberg trilayer. The model takes into account thermal fluctuations of the magnetization and allows to separate explicitly between two possible mechanisms behind the experimental observations, namely between a reduction of the magnetic moment by hybridization and a lattice relaxation at the Ni/Cu interface. Ferromagnetic resonance data for the reorientation and the decreased Curie temperature due to the Cu cap layer are best reproduced by assuming a reduction of the magnetic moment at the interface by ≈1/3. © 2008 Springer.