Publikationsrepositorium - Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf

We present a novel method to preselect the direction of an induced in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy (UMA) in thin Fe films on MgO(001). Ion beam sculpturing is used to modulate the MgO(001) surface with quasi-sinusoidal ripples on the nanoscale. The ripple direction determines the orientation of the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy, whereas the intrinsic cubic anisotropy of the Fe film is not affected. Thus, it is possible with a precision of a few degrees to superimpose an in-plane UMA---a level of control not reported so far that can be relevant for example in spintronic applications.