Interface enhanced magnetic anisotropy in Pt/EuO films

TL;DR

This paper investigates how a platinum overlayer influences the magnetic and electronic properties of EuO films, revealing enhanced magnetic anisotropy and interface conduction due to spin-orbit coupling effects.

Contribution

It demonstrates the interface-induced enhancement of magnetic anisotropy and identifies the presence of a conducting channel at the Pt/EuO interface, highlighting proximity effects in these heterostructures.

Findings

Enhanced magnetic anisotropy at the Pt/EuO interface.

Presence of a conducting channel at the interface.

Resistivity shows EuO's metal-insulator transition behavior.

Abstract

We report proximity effects of spin-orbit coupling in EuO$_{1-x}$ films capped with a Pt overlayer. Transport measurements suggest that current flows along a conducting channel at the interface between the Pt and EuO. The temperature dependence of the resistivity picks up the critical behaviors of EuO, i.e., the metal-to-insulator transition. We also find an unusual enhancement of the magnetic anisotropy in this structure from its bulk value which results from strong spin-orbit coupling across the Pt/EuO interface.