# Huge magneto-crystalline anisotropy of x-ray linear dichroism observed on Co/FeMn bilayers

## TL;DR

This study uses x-ray spectromicroscopy to reveal significant magneto-crystalline anisotropy in XMLD contrast within Co/FeMn bilayers, highlighting the technique's sensitivity to magnetic domain orientations and interface effects.

## Contribution

It demonstrates the large magneto-crystalline anisotropy of XMLD in Co layers and shows XMLD contrast can detect small induced moments at interfaces in metallic bilayers.

## Key findings

- Large XMLD contrast difference between magnetic domains.
- XMLD sensitivity to small interface-induced moments.
- Magnetic domains with different easy axes observed simultaneously.

## Abstract

We present an x-ray spectromicroscopic investigation of single-crystalline magnetic FeMn/Co bilayers on Cu(001), using X-ray magnetic circular (XMCD) and linear (XMLD) dichroism at the Co and Fe L3 absorption edges in combination with photoelectron emission microscopy (PEEM). Using the magnetic coupling between the ferromagnetic Co layer and the antiferromagnetic FeMn layer we are able to produce magnetic domains with two different crystallographic orientations of the magnetic easy axis within the same sample at the same time. We find a huge difference in the XMLD contrast between the two types of magnetic domains, which we discuss in terms of intrinsic magneto-crystalline anisotropy of XMLD of the Co layer. We also demonstrate that due to the high sensitivity of the method, the small number of induced ferromagnetic Fe moments at the FeMn-Co interface is sufficient to obtain magnetic contrast from XMLD in a metallic system.