Dependence of Atomic Thickness on Interfacial Conditions and Magnetocrystalline Anisotropy in SmCo(5)/Sm(2)Co(17) Multilayer

We have performed first-principles calculations to study the interfacial exchange coupling and magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy in a SmCo [Formula: see text] /Sm [Formula: see text] Co [Formula: see text] multilayer model system. The phase of SmCo [Formula: see text] and Sm [Formula: see text] Co [Formula: see text] stacking along (0001) direction are structurally well matched. The atomic structure, including the alignment and the separation between layers, were firstly optimized. Then the non-collinear magnetic structures were calculated to explore the exchange coupling across the interface and the variation of magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy. We found that the inter-phase exchange coupling strength, rotating behavior and magnetocrystalline anisotropy strongly depend on the atomic thickness of the SmCo [Formula: see text] and Sm [Formula: see text] Co [Formula: see text] phase.