Depth profile of spin and orbital magnetic moments in a subnanometer Pt film on Co

Motohiro Suzuki, Hiroaki Muraoka, Yuuki Inaba, Hayato Miyagawa, Naomi Kawamura, Takehito Shimatsu, Hiroshi Maruyama, Naoki Ishimatsu, Yoichi Isohama, Yoshiaki Sonobe

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106 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The magnetic properties of a few atomic Pt layers on a 15-nm-thick Co film were studied by x-ray magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy at the Pt L2,3 edges. The spin and orbital magnetic moments of the Pt 5d electrons were separated using the sum rules, and the depth profiles of these moments were determined as a function of the distance from the Co-Pt interface. A Pt atom has a total magnetic moment of 0.61 μB atom at the interface, and the moment decreases exponentially with the distance from the interface with a characteristic decay length of 0.41 nm. Four atomic Pt layers near the interface possess 90% of the total magnetization of Pt. The Pt orbital magnetic moment is more than 15% relative to the spin moment and confined to two atomic layers near the interface. The orbital moment was found to be isotropic in the dichroism measurements using external magnetic fields perpendicular and parallel to the film plane. These properties of Pt magnetization are discussed in the context of thermal stability of magnetic recording media covered with a thin Pt overlayer.

Original languageEnglish
Article number054430
JournalPhysical Review B - Condensed Matter and Materials Physics
Volume72
Issue number5
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2005 Aug 1

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