Large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in the transition metal/nitride thin films*

Enabling large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) in transition metal thin films is a pathway towards nanomagnetism and next generation magnetic random-access memory devices. In this talk, we focus on PMA in the transition metal/nitride thin films based on first-principles calculations. The strength of PMA approaches the atomic limit of anisotropy for an isolated atom. It is the combined effect of spin-orbit interaction and electron correlation that plays a key role. As a consequence, PMA is predominated by the first order perturbation of the spin-orbit coupling, in contrast to conventional transition metal/oxide thin films. This work might open a new field of magnetism on transition metal/nitride interfaces.