The itinerant limit of metallic anisotropy

The anisotropy contribution of itinerant electrons confined to a quantum-well potential is calculated and compared with the quasi-ionic contribution due to virtually bound electrons. The easy magnetization direction of the non-L-S quantum-well electrons lies in the plane, and the magnitude of the anisotropy, maximally of order 10 J/m/sup 3/, is too weak to explain anisotropies encountered in practice. This means that itinerant 3d anisotropy in materials and thin films is associated with Hund's-rules-type ionic contributions.