Degree of Order Dependence on Magnetocrystalline Anisotropy in Body-Centered Tetragonal FeCo Alloys

We investigate the magnetocrystalline anisotropy (MCA) energy of tetragonal distorted FeCo alloys depending on the degree of order by first-principles electronic structure calculation combined with the coherent potential approximation. The obtained results indicate that the MCA energy of FeCo alloys strongly depends on the degree of order under optimal conditions, where the axial ratio of the body-centered tetragonal (bct) structure is 1.25 and the composition is Fe0.5Co0.5. We find that the modification of the electronic structure resulting from electron scattering by chemical disorder has a considerable influence on the MCA under these conditions. (C) 2012 The Japan Society of Applied Physics