Relativistic and thermal effects on the magnon spectrum of a ferromagnetic monolayer

A spin model including magnetic anisotropy terms and Dzyaloshinsky–Moriya interactions is studied for the case of a ferromagnetic monolayer with C2v symmetry like Fe/W(110). Using the quasiclassical stochastic Landau–Lifshitz–Gilbert equations, the magnon spectrum of the system is derived using linear response theory. The Dzyaloshinsky–Moriya interaction leads to asymmetry in the spectrum, while the anisotropy terms induce a gap. It is shown that, in the presence of lattice defects, both the Dzyaloshinsky–Moriya interactions and the two-site anisotropy lead to a softening of the magnon energies. Two methods are developed to investigate the magnon spectrum at finite temperatures. The theoretical results are compared to atomistic spin dynamics simulations and good agreement is found between them. (paper)