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At least 847 records · Page 47

Unconventional magnetisation texture in graphene/cobalt hybrids

Magnetic domain structure and spin-dependent reflectivity measurements on cobalt thin films intercalated at the graphene/Ir(111) interface are investigated using spin-polarised low-energy electron microscopy. We find that graphene-covered cobalt films have surprising magnetic properties. Vectorial imaging of magnetic domains reveals an unusually gradual thickness-dependent spin reorientation transition, in which magnetisation rotates from out-of-the-film plane to the in-plane direction by less than 10° per cobalt monolayer. During this transition, cobalt films have a meandering spin texture, characterised by a complex, three-dimensional, wavy magnetisation pattern. In addition, spectroscopy measurements suggest that the electronic band structure of the unoccupied states is essentially spin-independent already a few electron-Volts above the vacuum level. These properties strikingly differ from those of pristine cobalt films and could open new prospects in surface magnetism.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Anisotropic magnetic entropy change in Cr 2 X 2 Te 6 ( X = Si and Ge )

Intrinsic, two-dimensional (2D) ferromagnetic semiconductors are an important class of materials for spintronics applications. Cr 2 X 2 Te 6 ( X = Si and Ge ) semiconductors show 2D Ising-like ferromagnetism, which is preserved in few-layer devices. The maximum magnetic entropy change associated with the critical properties around the ferromagnetic transition for Cr 2 Si 2 Te 6 - ΔS$max\atop{M}$ ~ 5.05 J kg -1 K -1 is much larger than - ΔS$max\atop{M}$ ~ 2.64 J kg -1 K -1 for Cr 2 Ge 2 Te 6 with an out-of-plane field change of 5 T. The rescaled - ΔS M (T,H) curves collapse onto a universal curve independent of temperature and field for both materials. Here, this indicates similar critical behavior and 2D Ising magnetism, confirming the magnetocrystalline anisotropy that could preserve the long-range ferromagnetism in a few layers of Cr 2 X 2 Te 6 .

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Magnetic and high frequency properties of nanogranular CoFe-yttrium-doped zirconia films

Soft magnetic nanogranular FeCo-Yttrium-doped Zirconia thin films were fabricated using RF magnetron sputtering at different sputtering power. It was found that film electrical resistivity (ρ) decreased steeply with the increase of sputtering power, while both saturation magnetization (4πM{sub s}) and natural ferromagnetic resonant frequency (ƒ{sub r}) increased with the sputtering power ascending from 100 W to 200 W, but decreased when sputtering power exceeded 200 W. X-ray diffraction analysis and transmission electron microscopy confirmed that the films were nanocrystalline/amorphous composites. A saturation magnetization as high as 15.4 kGs and a ferromagnetic resonance frequency above 3 GHz were obtained.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Recent developments on 2D magnetic materials: challenges and opportunities

The emergence of two-dimensional (2D) magnetic materials exhibiting strong magnetization at ultrathin limits above room temperature are promising for miniaturization of devices beyond Moore’s law for future energy efficient nano-electronic devices. Here, the current status, different mechanisms for the existence of magnetism, spin current injection and other magnetic properties of monolayer to few-layers of various 2D magnetic materials are reviewed. Some of the promising applications of these materials are spintronics devices such as spin valves, spin tunnel field-effect transistors, and spin filtering magnetic tunnel junctions. Due to the tunable electronic properties of these 2D materials, it's quite interesting to inject the spin current with suitable ferromagnetic contacts. For instance,black phosphorus is a layered material with a small Schottky barrier height capable of injecting spin current. This review includes many recently explored 2D magnetic materials ranging from exfoliated 2D crystals to CVD grown materials from single to several layers, demonstrating tunable layer dependent magnetic properties. We also explore some of the promising theoretical study based on 2D magnetic compounds such as 2D alkali-based chromium chalcogenides, which shows ferromagnetic as well as semiconducting behavior. The layer-dependent magnetic ordering has been observed in layered compounds like 1T-CrTe 2 , VSe 2 , CrI 3 , and Fe 3 GeTe 2 , which have great potential for the future applications in magnetic based electronic devices. Finally, we emphasize the challenges, opportunities and future directions of the 2D magnetic materials, where new discoveries might have outstanding impact in transformational scientific breakthroughs towards memory, spintronics, optoelectronics and other multifunctional device applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Spin Hall effects in metallic antiferromagnets – perspectives for future spin-orbitronics

We investigate angular dependent spin-orbit torques from the spin Hall effect in a metallic antiferromagnet using the spin-torque ferromagnetic resonance technique. The large spin Hall effect exists in PtMn, a prototypical CuAu-I-type metallic antiferromagnet. By applying epitaxial growth, we previously reported an appreciable difference in spin-orbit torques for c- and a-axis orientated samples, implying anisotropic effects in magnetically ordered materials. In this work we demonstrate through bipolar-magnetic-field experiments a small but noticeable asymmetric behavior in the spin-transfer-torque that appears as a hysteresis effect. We also suggest that metallic antiferromagnets may be good candidates for the investigation of various unidirectional effects related to novel spin-orbitronics phenomena.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Enhanced interfacial ferromagnetism and exchange bias in (111)-oriented LaNiO 3 / CaMnO 3 superlattices

Emergent properties of complex oxide interfaces are based on interface reconstruction that is driven by mismatch of electronic bands, valence states, interaction lengths, and even crystal symmetry of the interface. In particular, emergent ferromagnetism at the interface of two materials that do not exhibit ferro- or ferrimagnetism in the bulk has been stabilized as a result of competing exchange interactions. When LaNiO 3 and CaMnO 3 , which are a paramagnetic metal and antiferromagnetic insulator in the bulk, respectively, are brought together, ferromagnetism emerges at the interface. Here we show that in (111)-oriented LaNiO 3 / CaMnO 3 (LNO/CMO) superlattices, Ni 2+ -Mn 4+ superexchange interactions due to polar mismatch at the LNO/CMO interfaces are responsible for the emergent ferromagnetism. Compared to (001)-oriented LNO/CMO superlattices, (111)-oriented LNO/CMO superlattices exhibit enhanced interfacial ferromagnetism with a T C > 200 K, greater than the bulk antiferromagnetic transition temperature of CaMnO 3 and a saturated magnetic moment enhanced by up to a factor of 3. Furthermore, we observe exchange bias in (111)-oriented superlattices. The strong exchange interactions along the (111) interface, manifest in the enhanced T c and exchange bias, make this class of CMO-based materials with (111)-oriented interfaces good candidates for low-dimensional spin-polarized materials in spintronic applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

The structure and electronic properties of hexagonal Fe{sub 2}Si

On the basis of first principle calculations, we show that a hexagonal structure of Fe{sub 2}Si is a ferromagnetic crystal. The result of the phonon spectra indicates that it is a stable structure. Such material exhibits a spin-polarized and half-metal-like band structure. From the calculations of generalized gradient approximation, metallic and semiconducting behaviors are observed with a direct and nearly 0 eV band gap in various spin channels. The densities of states in the vicinity of the Fermi level is mainly contributed from the d-electrons of Fe. We calculate the reflection spectrum of Fe{sub 2}Si, which has minima at 275 nm and 3300 nm with reflectance of 0.27 and 0.49, respectively. Such results may provide a reference for the search of hexagonal Fe{sub 2}Si in experiments. With this band characteristic, the material may be applied in the field of novel spintronics devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Ferromagnetism and Nonmetallic Transport of Thin-Film α - FeSi 2 : A Stabilized Metastable Material

The epitaxially stabilized metallic α - FeSi 2 thin films on Si(001) were grown using pulsed laser deposition. While the bulk material of α - FeSi 2 is a high temperature metastable phase and nonmagnetic, the thin film is stabilized at room temperature and shows unusual electronic transport and magnetic properties due to strain modification. The transport renders two different conducting states with a strong crossover at 50 K accompanied by an onset of ferromagnetism as well as a substantial magnetocaloric effect and magnetoresistance. These experimental results are discussed in terms of the unusual electronic structure of α - FeSi 2 obtained within density functional calculations and Boltzmann transport calculations with and without strain. Our findings provide an example of a tailored material with interesting physics properties for practical applications.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Half Metallic Ferromagnetic Character in ZnXP{sub 2} (X = Ge, Si) Chalcopyrites Doped with Mn

The electronic and the magnetic properties of ZnXP{sub 2} (X = Ge, Si) were studied using the Korring-Kohn-Rostoker (KKR) method combined with the coherent potential approximation (CPA). The total and partial density of state (DOS) are computed for different Mn concentrations. The total magnetic moment, FM and DLM energies, and their variation as well as Curie temperature are also given. It is shown that the substitution of X cations (X = Ge, Si) by Mn atoms in ZnXP{sub 2} chalcopyrites leads to half metallic ferromagnetic character with double exchange mechanism. Thus, the critical temperature can be controlled by varying the concentration of manganese impurity.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Chirality reversal of magnetic solitons in chiral Cr 1/3 TaS 2

Ferromagnetism in two-dimensional (2D) materials provides an ideal platform to study emergent electromagnetic phenomena in low dimensions for future spintronics. In magnetic-element intercalated transition metal dichalcogenides, topologically nontrivial spin textures, such as chiral helimagnetic spin states and chiral soliton lattices, are realized due to the chiral lattice distortions induced by intercalated magnetic ions. Consequently, the magnetic chirality is predictably determined by the sign of antisymmetric exchange interaction (or Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction, DMI) vector that is coupled to the underlying crystal chirality. Here, using cryogenic Lorentz phase microscopy, we directly observed the chirality reversal behavior of the chiral soliton lattices in Cr 1/3 TaS 2 across the structural defects. We show that a partial 1 T stacking in 2H-TaS 2 locally reduces DMI, leading to magnetic chirality reversal with direct atomic resolution imaging. Furthermore, our experimental results show that manipulation of stacking sequence provides a viable way to control the chirality of topologically nontrivial soliton lattices in 2D magnets.

2D materials↗

Growth and characterization of insulating ferromagnetic semiconductor (Al,Fe)Sb

We investigate the crystal structure, transport, and magnetic properties of Fe-doped ferromagnetic semiconductor (Al{sub 1−x},Fe{sub x})Sb thin films up to x = 14% grown by molecular beam epitaxy. All the samples show p-type conduction at room temperature and insulating behavior at low temperature. The (Al{sub 1−x},Fe{sub x})Sb thin films with x ≤ 10% maintain the zinc blende crystal structure of the host material AlSb. The (Al{sub 1−x},Fe{sub x})Sb thin film with x = 10% shows intrinsic ferromagnetism with a Curie temperature (T{sub C}) of 40 K. In the (Al{sub 1−x},Fe{sub x})Sb thin film with x = 14%, a sudden drop of the hole mobility and T{sub C} was observed, which may be due to the microscopic phase separation. The observation of ferromagnetism in (Al,Fe)Sb paves the way to realize a spin-filtering tunnel barrier that is compatible with well-established III-V semiconductor devices.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Scaling study of magnetic phase transition and critical behavior in Nd0.55Sr0.45Mn0.98Ga0.02O3 manganite

Highlights: • The sample of Nd{sub 0.55}Sr{sub 0.45}Mn{sub 0.98}Ga{sub 0.02}O{sub 3} was synthesized via a solid state reaction route. • The PM to FM phase transition of this sample is found to be of second-order. • The critical behaviors and scaling relation for Nd{sub 0.55}Sr{sub 0.45}Mn{sub 0.98}Ga{sub 0.02}O{sub 3} have also been investigated by modified Arrott plot and critical isotherm analysis. • The estimated critical exponents are close to the values for 3D-Ising model. - Abstract: Microscopic magnetic interactions and magnetism can be probed by studying the critical paramagnetic–ferromagnetic phase transition of magnetic materials. In this work, the critical behavior of the lightly Ga-doped manganites Nd{sub 0.55}Sr{sub 0.45}Mn{sub 0.98}Ga{sub 0.02}O{sub 3} (NSMGO) has been investigated. Scaling analysis reveals the critical exponents β = 0.308, γ = 1.197, and δ = 4.916, where their self-consistency and reliability are verified by the Widom scaling law and the scaling equation. These exponents indicate that the magnetic phase transition in NSMGO belongs to the anisotropic 3D-Ising universality class. Nevertheless, the asymptotic critical exponents β{sub eff} and γ{sub eff} are found to approach to the values of 3D-Heisenberg model, implying the existence of isotropic short-range magnetic interactions. We suggest that, although the Nd-based manganites possess a strong magnetocrystalline anisotropy, this effect can be partly averaged out in view of the present polycrystalline NSMGO. Therefore, in the asymptotic critical region, the phase transition reveals the crossover from the scaling of 3D-Ising toward 3D-Heisenberg universality class.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

In situ synchrotron x-ray studies of epitaxial SrCoO x films during ionic liquid gating

The manipulation of ions in complex oxide materials can be used to mimic brain-like plasticity through changes to the resistivity of a neuromorphic device. Advances in the design of more energy efficient devices require improved understanding of how ions migrate within a material and across its interface. We investigate the exchange of oxygen and hydrogen in a model SrCoO x epitaxial film—a material that transitions between a ferromagnetic metal and antiferromagnetic insulator depending on the oxygen concentration. Changes to the film during ionic liquid gating were measured by in situ synchrotron x-ray techniques as a function of time and gate voltage, examining the reversibility of the oxide over one complete gating cycle. We find that the out-of-plane lattice constant and oxygen vacancy concentration of SrCoO x are largely reversible although changes were observed in the ordered vacancy structure. Our results provide much needed insight into electrolyte-gated phase behavior in the transition metal oxides.

Li, Yan [Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonn↗

Magnetic Damping Modulation in IrMn 3 / Ni 80 Fe 20 via the Magnetic Spin Hall Effect

Noncollinear antiferromagnets can have additional spin Hall effects due to the net chirality of their magnetic spin structure, which provides for more complex spin-transport phenomena compared to ordinary nonmagnetic materials. Here we investigated how ferromagnetic resonance of permalloy (Ni 80 Fe 20 ) is modulated by spin Hall effects in adjacent epitaxial IrMn 3 films. We observe a large dc modulation of the ferromagnetic resonance linewidth for currents applied along the [001] IrMn 3 direction. Furthermore, this very strong angular dependence of spin-orbit torques from dc currents through the bilayers can be explained by the magnetic spin Hall effect where IrMn 3 provides novel pathways for modulating magnetization dynamics electrically.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Spin-orbit-proximitized ferromagnetic metal by monolayer transition metal dichalcogenide: Atlas of spectral functions, spin textures, and spin-orbit torques in Co/MoSe 2 , Co/WSe 2 and Co/TaSe 2 heterostructures

In this work, the heterostructures composed of an ultrathin ferromagnetic metal (FM) and a material hosting strong spin-orbit (SO) coupling are the principal resource for SO torque and spin-to-charge conversion nonequilibrium effects in spintronics. The key quantity in theoretical description of these effects is nonequilibrium spin density, which can appear on any monolayer of the heterostructure through which the current is flowing as long as the monolayer bands are affected by the native or proximity induced SO coupling. Here we demonstrate how hybridization of wave functions of Co layer and a monolayer of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs)—such as semiconducting MoSe 2 and WSe 2 or metallic TaSe 2 —can lead to dramatic transmutation of electronic and spin structure of Co within some distance away from its interface with TMD, when compared to the bulk of Co or its surface in contact with a vacuum. This is due to proximity induced SO splitting of Co bands encoded in the spectral functions and spin textures on its monolayers, which we obtain using noncollinear density functional theory (ncDFT) combined with equilibrium Green function (GF) calculations. In fact, SO splitting is present due to structural inversion asymmetry of the bilayer—i.e., just the presence of the interface—even if SO coupling within TMD monolayer is artificially switched off in ncDFT calculations. However, switching it on makes the effects associated with proximity SO coupling within Co layer about five times larger. Injecting spin-unpolarized charge current through SO-proximitized monolayers of Co generates nonequilibrium spin density over them, so that its cross product with the magnetization of Co determines SO torque. The SO torque computed via first-principles quantum transport methodology, which combines ncDFT with nonequilibrium GF calculations, can be used as the screening parameter to identify optimal combination of materials and their interfaces for applications in spintronics. In particular, we identify heterostructure two-monolayer-Co/monolayer-WSe 2 as the most optimal one, at least in the clean limit.

2-dimensional systems↗

Laplacian-level meta-generalized gradient approximation for solid and liquid metals

In this work, we derive and motivate a Laplacian-level, orbital-free meta-generalized-gradient approximation (LL-MGGA) for the exchange-correlation energy, targeting accurate ground-state properties of sp and sd metallic condensed matter, in which the density functional for the exchange-correlation energy is only weakly nonlocal due to perfect long-range screening. Our model for the orbital-free kinetic energy density restores the fourth-order gradient expansion for exchange to the r 2 SCAN meta-GGA [Furness et al., J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 11, 8208 (2020)], yielding a LL-MGGA we call OFR2. OFR2 matches the accuracy of SCAN for prediction of common lattice constants and improves the equilibrium properties of alkali metals, transition metals, and intermetallics that were degraded relative to the PBE GGA values by both SCAN and r 2 SCAN. We compare OFR2 to the r 2 SCAN -L LL-MGGA [Mejia-Rodriguez and Trickey, Phys. Rev. B 102, 121109(R) (2020)] and show that OFR2 tends to outperform r 2 SCAN -L for the equilibrium properties of solids, but r 2 SCAN -L much better describes the atomization energies of molecules than OFR2 does. For best accuracy in molecules and nonmetallic condensed matter, we continue to recommend SCAN and r 2 SCAN. Numerical performance is discussed in detail, and our paper provides an outlook to machine learning.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Formation of gapless Z{sub 2} spin liquid phase manganites in the (Sm{sub 1–y}Gd{sub y}){sub 0.55}Sr{sub 0.45}MnO{sub 3} system in zero magnetic field: Topological phase transitions to states with low and high density of 2D-vortex pairs induced by the magnetic field

The evolution of the ground state of the manganese spin ensemble in the (Sm{sub 1–y}Gd{sub y}){sub 0.55}Sr{sub 0.45}MnO{sub 3} in the case of isovalent substitution of rare-earth samarium ions with large radii with gadolinium ions with significantly smaller radii is studied. The measured temperature dependences of the ac magnetic susceptibility and the field dependences of the dc magnetizations are analyzed using the Heisenberg–Kitaev model describing the transition from the ordered spin state with classical isotropic AFM exchange to the frustrated spin state with quantum highly anisotropic FM exchange. A continuous transition from the 3D ferromagnetic state of manganese spins in the initial sample with y = 0 to zigzag AFM ordering of CE-type spins in ab planes for y = 0.5, coexisting in samples with y = 0.5, 0.6, and 0.7 at temperatures below T{sub N} ≅ 48.5 K with a disordered phase such as a quantum Griffiths phase is identified. As the gadolinium concentration further increases, the CE-type zigzag AFM structure is molten, which leads to the appearance of an unusual phase in Gd{sub 0.55}Sr{sub 0.45}MnO{sub 3} in the temperature range close to the absolute zero. This phase has characteristic features of a gapless Z{sub 2} quantum spin liquid in zero external magnetic field. The step changes in the magnetization isotherms measured at 4.2 K in the field range of ±75 kOe are explained by quantum phase transitions of the Z{sub 2} spin liquid to a phase with topological order in weak magnetic fields and a polarized phase in strong fields. The significant difference between critical fields and magnetization jumps in isotherms indicates the existence of hysteretic phenomena in quantum spin liquid magnetization–demagnetization processes caused by the difference between localization–delocalization of 2D vortex pairs induced by a magnetic field in a quantum spin liquid with disorder.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Collective spin dynamics under dissipative spin Hall torque

Current-induced spin torques in layered magnetic heterostructures have many commonalities across broad classes of magnetic materials. These include not only collinear ferromagnets, ferrimagnets, and antiferromagnets but also more complex noncollinear spin systems. We develop a general Lagrangian–Rayleigh approach for studying the role of dissipative torques, which can pump energy into long-wavelength magnetic dynamics, causing dynamic instabilities. While the Rayleigh structure of such torques is similar for different magnetic materials, their consequences depend sensitively on the nature of the order and, in particular, on whether there is a net magnetic moment. The latter endows the system with a unipolar switching capability, while magnetically compensated materials tend to evolve toward limit cycles, at large torques, with chirality dependent on the torque sign. Apart from the ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic cases, we discuss ferrimagnets, which display an intricate competition between switching and limit cycles. As a simple case for compensated noncollinear order, we consider isotropic spin glasses and a scenario of their coexistence with a collinear magnetic order.

Tserkovnyak, Yaroslav (ORCID:0000000232773695)↗