Comparison of the effect of the exchange and single-ion anisotropy on the magnetic properties of thin ferromagnetic films

•The effect of two magnetic anisotropies on magnetic properties of thin films is examined.•The effect is identical for large values of their parameters.•The effect is different for small values of their parameters.

Using the many-body Green function theory, we caculate the magnetic reorientation temperature and the anisotropic parallel susceptibility of ferromagnetic Heisenberg thin films with the exchange and single-ion anisotropy. Particularly, we compare the effect of these anisotropies on the above mentioned observables. On the basis of our results, one cannot generally claim that these anisotropies are equivalent in the whole rangle of their parameters.