Effect of heavy-metal insertions at Fe/MgO interfaces on electric-field-induced modification of magnetocrystalline anisotropy

Magnetocrystalline anisotropy (MCA) at Fe/MgO interfaces with insertions of 3d (Co, Ni), 4d (Ru, Rh, Pd), and 5d (Os, Ir, Pt) elements in external electric fields was investigated from first-principles calculations. The MCA energy and the electric-field-induced MCA modification dramatically depend on the inserted elements. Large MCA modification may be achieved by heavy-metal insertions, in which the strength of spin-orbit coupling of inserted elements and the position of the Fermi level relative to d band level play key roles.