  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.
