Symmetry-induced magnetic anisotropy in ultrathin planar striped Co films with and without Cu decoration

First-principles local density full potential linearized augmented plane wave method and state-tracking and torque approaches are employed for the theoretical determination of in-plane and off-plane magnetic anisotropy for both free standing planar Co stripes and the same film put on a Cu (100) substrate, with and without nonmagnetic Cu decoration. The easy magnetic axis is found to lie parallel to the stripes for clean Co stripes; the decoration with nonmagnetic Cu is found to switch the easy axis from parallel to perpendicular to the stripes. The magnetic anisotropy coefficients are determined and the magnetic behavior is related to, and explained in terms of, their electronic structures and the fundamental bonding properties of the constituent atoms.