Theoretical study on the Co layer thickness dependence of the magnetic anisotropy of Pd/Co multilayers

The magnetocrystalline anisotropy energies of Pd(3ML)/Co(xML) ( ML : monolayer ) (x= 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6) multilayers have been calculated from first principles within the local-spin-density approximation using the linear muffin-tin orbital (LMTO) method including spin-orbit coupling. The easy axes are found to be perpendicular to the film plane, which is in good agreement with experiments. The anisotropies of orbital angular momentum of the Co atoms near the interface are larger than those of the Co atoms away from the interface. This fact indicates that the contribution to perpendicular anisotropy is larger for the Co atoms near the interface rather than those located distant from the interface and confirms the existence of interface anisotropy.