Material dependence of anomalous Nernst effect in perpendicularly magnetized ordered-alloy thin films

Material dependence of the anomalous Nernst effect (ANE) in perpendicularly magnetized ordered-alloy thin films is systematically investigated. The ANE was found to have a tendency to increase simply as uniaxial magnetic anisotropy increased at room temperature. The ANE increases as temperature increases from 10 to 300 K for all the materials. However, the signs of the ANE in Fe-based ordered-alloys (L10-FePt and L10-FePd) and in a Co/Ni multilayer are opposite to those in Mn-based ordered-alloys (L10-MnGa and D022-Mn2Ga). Ordered-alloys with larger uniaxial magnetic anisotropies reveal larger ANE and might be desirable for thermoelectric applications.