Influence of antisite defects and stacking faults on the magnetocrystalline anisotropy of FePt

Author(s)
M. Wolloch, Dieter Süss, P. Mohn
Abstract

We present density functional theory (DFT) calculations of the magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE) of FePt, which is of great interest for magnetic recording applications. Our data, and the majority of previously calculated results for perfectly ordered crystals, predict a MAE of ∼3.0meV per formula unit, which is significantly larger than experimentally measured values. Analyzing the effects of disorder by introducing stacking faults (SFs) and antisite defects (ASDs) in varying concentrations we are able to reconcile calculations with experimental data and show that even a low concentration of ASDs are able to reduce the MAE of FePt considerably. Investigating the effect of exact exchange and electron correlation within the adiabatic-connection dissipation fluctuation theorem in the random phase approximation (ACDFT-RPA) reveals a significantly smaller influence on the MAE. Thus the effect of disorder, and more specifically ASDs, is the crucial factor in explaining the deviation of common DFT calculations of FePt to experimental measurements.

Organisation(s)
Physics of Functional Materials
External organisation(s)
Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Technische Universität Wien
Journal
Physical Review B
Volume
96
No. of pages
8
ISSN
2469-9950
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.96.104408
Publication date
09-2017
Peer reviewed
Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012
103015 Condensed matter
Keywords
ASJC Scopus subject areas
Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials, Condensed Matter Physics
Portal url
https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/influence-of-antisite-defects-and-stacking-faults-on-the-magnetocrystalline-anisotropy-of-fept(78ed1c67-02dd-4489-a88c-4ce9725bdde4).html