Strain induced enhancement of perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in Co/graphene and Co/BN heterostructures

Perpendicular magnetic tunnel junctions in the next-generation magnetic memory using current induced magnetization switching will likely rely on a material design that can enhance the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of heterojunctions containing only light elements. Using first-principles calculations, we investigated the effect of compressive and tensile strain on the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of light element heterostructures of Co films, Co/graphene, and Co/BN. We found that the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of Co/graphene is greatly enhanced compared to the Co films, while that of Co/BN is reduced compared to the Co films. In addition, tensile strain can further enhance perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of Co/graphene and Co/BN heterojunctions by 48.5% and 80.8%, respectively, compared to the unstrained systems. A density of state analysis, combined with layer and orbital magnetic anisotropy contributions obtained from a second-order perturbation theory of the spin-orbit coupling, reveals that the tensile strain effect arises from the increase of the hybridization between same spin d(xy) and d(x)(-y)(2)(2) states of the surface Co film. Our results suggest that strain engineering is an effective approach to enhance the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of light element heterostructures.