Magnetic anisotropy in Fe/U and Ni/U bilayers

Abstract

Magnetometry measurements of Fe/U and Ni/U bilayer systems reveal a non-monotonic dependence of the magnetic anisotropy for U thicknesses in the range 0 nm -8 nm, with the Fe/U bilayers showing a more prominent effect as compared to Ni/U. The stronger response for Fe/U is ascribed to the stronger 3d-5f hybridization of Fe and U. This non-monotonic behaviour is thought to arise from quantum well states in the uranium overlayers. Estimating an oscillation period from the nonmonotonic data, and comparing it to Density Functional Theory calculations, we find that wave vector matches to the experimental data can be made to regions of high spectral density in ( 010) and ( 100) cuts of the electronic structure of α-U, consistent with the measured texture in the films. Unexpectedly, there are also indications of perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in a subset of Fe/U samples at relatively large U thickness.