Effect of spin-orbit interaction on a magnetic impurity in the vicinity   of a surface
  We propose a new mechanism for surface-induced magnetic anisotropy to explain the thickness-dependence of the Kondo resistivity of thin films of dilute magnetic alloys. The surface anisotropy energy, generated by spin-orbit coupling on the magnetic impurity itself, is an oscillating function of the distance d from the surface and decays as 1/d^2. Numerical estimates based on simple models suggest that this mechanism, unlike its alternatives, gives rise to an effect of the desired order of magnitude. 
L. Szunyogh, G. Zarand, S. Gallego, M.C. Munoz, and B.L. Gyorffy