The concept of anisotropy flows in thickness- and temperature-driven reorientation transitions in ultrathin ferromagnetic films

The anisotropy-flow concept is applied to analyze in detail the reorientation transitions, driven by either thickness or temperature variations. The analysis brings to the fore the common underlying features in both cases. Three generic scenarios for the occurrence of the reorientation are predicted and described in both cases on general thermodynamic grounds. The method is especially effective when underpinned by the usual assumption about the explicit thickness dependence of the first two anisotropy constants.