Anisotropy

Anisotropy is property of being directionally dependent, as opposed to isotropy; this implies homogeneity in all the directions. Anisotropy refers to the material exhibiting different values of a property in different crystallographic directions. It is referred as exhibiting different physical properties in the different directions. It is a method for measuring binding interaction between 2 labeled molecules.  The property of being anisotropic is having a different value at the time when measured in different directions. The property of being anisotropic; in chemistry it is a property of a substance which depends on direction

A physical property showing various values in relation to direction in or along which the measurement is being made. The physical property can be with regard to thermal or light refraction or electric conductivity. In crystallography, it describes crystals index of whose refraction varies with the direction of the incident light. It is called as acolotropy and colotropy. Magnetic anisotropy is direction dependence of the material's magnetic. A magnetically isotropic material has no direction for its magnetic moment in zero field, whereas the magnetically anisotropic material will align its moment to the easy axis.

Anisotropy energy is energy stored in the ferromagnetic crystal by virtue of work done in rotating the magnetization of the domain away from the direction of simple magnetization. Anisotropy is a dependence of energy level on some direction. If the magnetic moments in a material have a bias towards one particular direction then the material is said to have uniaxial anisotropy. If bias is towards many specific directions, then the material has a number of easy axes and it possesses cubic anisotropy. The anisotropy energy in the transition metal magnets arises from the spin-orbit coupling.  The spin-orbit interaction is primary source of magnetocrystalline anisotropy.