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- Brondin, Carlo Alberto, et al.
(author)
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Tailoring Magnetic Anisotropy in Ultrathin Cobalt by Surface Carbon Chemistry
- 2024
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In: Advanced Electronic Materials. - 2199-160X. ; 10:4
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The ability to manipulate magnetic anisotropy is essential for magnetic sensing and storage tools. Surface carbon species offer cost-effective alternatives to metal-oxide and noble metal capping layers, inducing perpendicular magnetic anisotropy in ultrathin ferromagnetic films. Here, the different mechanisms by which the magnetism in a few-layer-thick Co thin film is modified upon adsorption of carbon monoxide (CO), dispersed carbon, and graphene are elucidated. Using X-ray microscopy with chemical and magnetic sensitivity, the in-plane to out-of-plane spin reorientation transition in cobalt is monitored during the accumulation of surface carbon up to the formation of graphene. Complementary magneto-optical measurements show weak perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) at room temperature for dispersed carbon on Co, while graphene-covered cobalt exhibits a significant out-of-plane coercive field. Density-functional theory (DFT) calculations show that going from CO/Co to C/Co and to graphene/Co, the magnetocrystalline and magnetostatic anisotropies combined promote out-of-plane magnetization. Anisotropy energies weakly depend on carbidic species coverage. Instead, the evolution of the carbon chemical state from carbidic to graphitic is accompanied by an exponential increase in the characteristic domain size, controlled by the magnetic anisotropy energy. Beyond providing a basic understanding of the carbon-ferromagnet interfaces, this study presents a sustainable approach to tailor magnetic anisotropy in ultrathin ferromagnetic films. Magnetic properties of Co ultrathin films are shown to undergo dramatic changes upon surface carbon accumulation. Chemical transformation from molecular carbon monoxide to surface carbide and to a graphene layer progressively enhances the perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of Co. Calculations reveal that magnetocrystalline and magnetostatic contributions play distinctly different roles for the different carbon species.image
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| 2. |
- Ghosh, Sukanya, et al.
(author)
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Rashba-induced spin texture and spin-layer-locking effects in the antiferromagnetic CrI3 bilayer
- 2023
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In: Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids. - : Elsevier. - 0022-3697 .- 1879-2553. ; 173
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The antiferromagnetic (AFM) CrI3 bilayer is a particularly interesting representative of van der Waals 2D semiconductors, which are currently being studied for their magnetism and for their potential in spintronics. Using ab initio density-functional theory calculations, we investigate the spin texture in momentum space of the states of the (doubly degenerate) highest valence band of the AFM CrI3 bilayer with Cr-spin moments perpendicular to the layers. We find the existence, in the main central part of the Brillouin zone, of a Rashba in-plane spin texture of opposite signs on the two layers, resulting from the intrinsic local electric fields acting on each layer. To study the layer segregation of the wavefunctions, we apply a small electric field that splits the degenerate states according to their layer occupancy. We find that the wavefunctions of the highest valence band are layer-segregated, belonging to only one of the two layers with opposite in-plane spin textures, and the segregation occurs over nearly the whole Brillouin zone. The corresponding layer locking of the in-plane -canted spin is related to the separation in energy of the highest AFM band from the rest of the valence bands. We explain how the band interactions destroy the layer locking at the K, K ', and Gamma points. Furthermore, we compare the layer locking of the in-plane-canted spin in our AFM bilayer system with the hidden spin polarization in centrosymmetric nonmagnetic materials, pointing out the differences in segregation mechanisms and their consequences for the layer locking. We note that a similar Rashba effect with layer locking of in -plane-canted spin could occur in other van der Waals AFM bilayers with strong spin-orbit coupling and an isolated energy band.
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