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                     Phys. Rev. B 53, 3256–3262 (1996)

                        [Issue 6 – 1 February 1996 ]

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Reorientational transition of the magnetic anisotropy in Co/Cr(001)
superlattices

     Th. Zeidler, F. Schreiber, and H. Zabel
     Institut für Experimentalphysik/Festkörperphysik, Ruhr-Universität
     Bochum, D-44780 Bochum, Germany

     W. Donner
     Universität Wuppertal, Fachbereich 8, D-42097 Wuppertal, Germany

     N. Metoki
     Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, Tokai-mura, Ibaraki-ken
     319-11, Japan

Received 23 June 1995

We have measured the magnetic anisotropy of Co/Cr(001) superlattices as a
function of the Co thickness using magneto-optical methods and a torsion
magnetometer. The samples grown by molecular-beam epitaxy exhibit a
reorientational transition of the easy axis from in-plane for large Co
thicknesses (tCo >= 15 Å) to out-of-plane for 10 Å <= tCo <= 15 Å and back
again to the in-plane orientation for tCo <= 10 Å . We provide evidence
that this reorientational transition of the magnetization direction is due
to a sign change of the interface anisotropy constant induced by a
concomitant structural phase transition of the Co layers from hcp to bcc
with decreasing Co layer thickness.

©1996 The American Physical Society

URL: http://link.aps.org/abstract/PRB/v53/p3256
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevB.53.3256
PACS: 75.25.+z, 75.30.Gw, 75.70.Cn
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