Increased perpendicular magnetocrystalline anisotropy governed by magnetic boundary in an asymmetrically terminated FeRh(001) thin film

Abstract

Rh-terminated FeRh(001) film is known to be stable in a ferromagnetic (FM) state different from a G-type antiferromagnetic (G-AFM) bulk ground state, while an Fe-terminated FeRh(001) film has the same ground state as the bulk. In this paper, we investigate the magnetic properties of asymmetrically terminated FeRh(001) films: one surface is Fe-terminated and the other is Rh-terminated. Rh surface only ] (RhSO) FM state in asymmetrically terminated FeRh(001) film is identified to exhibit 40% increased perpendicular MCA energy as compare to that of the whole-layer (WL) FM state. This increased MCA energy is governed by Rh atom which is placed at the magnetic boundary. Since FM and G-AFM states are mixed up at the magnetic boundary, spin-orbit couplings which give positive contribution to perpendicular MCA are revealed.