First principles study on the local magnetic anisotropy near surfaces of Dy2Fe14B and Nd2Fe14B magnets

The electronic structures of a (001) surface of crystalline Dy2Fe14B and Nd2Fe14B have been studied and the crystal field parameters at the rare-earth sites have been estimated by using first principles calculations. It is shown that Dy or Nd ions at the surface exhibit an in-plane magnetic anisotropy and can be nucleation sites of magnetization reversal. (C) 2011 American Institute of Physics. [doi: 10.1063/1.3553935]