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F. El Gabaly, S. Gallego, C. Munoz, L. Szunyogh, P. Weinberger, C. Klein, A. Schmid, K.F. McCarty, J. de la Figuera:
"Imaging Spin-Reorientation Transitions in Consecutive Atomic Co Layers on Ru(0001)";
Physical Review Letters, 96 (2006), 1472021 - 1472024.

By means of spin-polarized low-energy electron microscopy, we show that the magnetic easy axis of
one to three atomic-layer thick cobalt films on Ru(0001) changes its orientation twice during deposition:
One-monolayer and three-monolayer thick films are magnetized in plane, while two-monolayer films are
magnetized out of plane. The Curie temperatures of films thicker than one monolayer are well above room
temperature. Fully relativistic calculations based on the screened Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method
demonstrate that only for two-monolayer cobalt films does the interplay between strain, surface, and
interface effects lead to perpendicular magnetization.
DOI: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.96.147202 PACS numbers: 75.30.Gw, 68.37.Nq, 68.55. a, 75.70.Ak

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