Oliver R. Albertini

Reaching the magnetic anisotropy limit of a 3d metal atom

Maximizing atomic magnetic memory A study of the magnetic response of cobalt atoms adsorbed on oxide surfaces may lead to much denser storage of data. In hard drives, data are stored as magnetic bits; the magnetic field pointing up or down corresponds to storing a zero or a one. The smallest bit possible would be a single atom, but the magnetism of a single atom —its spin—has to be stabilized by interactions with heavy elements or surfaces through an effect called spin-orbit coupling. Rau et al. (see the Perspective by Khajetoorians and Wiebe) built a model system in pursuit of single-atom bits—cobalt atoms adsorbed on magnesium oxide. At temperatures approaching absolute zero, the stabilization of the spins magnetic direction reached the maximum that is theoretically possible. Science, this issue p. 988; see also p. 976 A cobalt atom bound to a single oxygen site on magnesia has the maximum magnetic anisotropy allowed for a transition metal [Also see Perspective by Khajetoorians and Wiebe] Designing systems with large magnetic anisotropy is critical to realize nanoscopic magnets. Thus far, the magnetic anisotropy energy per atom in single-molecule magnets and ferromagnetic films remains typically one to two orders of magnitude below the theoretical limit imposed by the atomic spin-orbit interaction. We realized the maximum magnetic anisotropy for a 3d transition metal atom by coordinating a single Co atom to the O site of an MgO(100) surface. Scanning tunneling spectroscopy reveals a record-high zero-field splitting of 58 millielectron volts as well as slow relaxation of the Co atom’s magnetization. This striking behavior originates from the dominating axial ligand field at the O adsorption site, which leads to out-of-plane uniaxial anisotropy while preserving the gas-phase orbital moment of Co, as observed with x-ray magnetic circular dichroism.

Zone-center phonons of bulk, few-layer, and monolayer 1T-TaS

We present first-principles calculations of the vibrational properties of the transition metal dichalcogenide 1T-TaS

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: Detection of the commensurate charge density wave phase through Raman scattering

for various thicknesses in the high-temperature (undistorted) phase and the low-temperature commensurate charge density wave (CDW) phase. We also present measurements of the Raman spectra for bulk, few-layer, and monolayer samples at temperatures well below that of the bulk transition to the commensurate phase. Through our calculations, we identify the low-frequency folded-back acoustic modes as a convenient signature of the commensurate CDW wave structure in vibrational spectra. In our measured Raman spectra, this signature is clearly evident in all of the samples, indicating that the commensurate phase remains the ground state as the material is thinned, even down to a single layer. This is in contrast to some previous studies which suggest a suppression of the commensurate CDW transition in thin flakes. We also use polarized Raman spectroscopy to probe c-axis orbital texture in the low-T phase, which has recently been suggested as playing a role in the metal-insulator transition that accompanies the structural transition to the commensurate CDW phase.

Effect of electron doping on lattice instabilities in single-layer 1H−TaS2

Recent ARPES measurements of single-layer 1H-TaS2 grown on Au(111) suggest strong electron doping from the substrate. In addition, STM/STS measurements on this system show suppression of the charge-density-wave (CDW) instability that occurs in bulk 2H-TaS2. We present results from ab initio DFT calculations of free-standing single-layer 1H-TaS2 to explore the effects of doping on the CDW. In the harmonic approximation, we find that a lattice instability along the Gamma-M line occurs in the undoped monolayer, consistent with the bulk 3x3 CDW ordering vector. Doping removes the CDW instability, in agreement with the experimental findings. The doping and momentum dependence of both the electron-phonon coupling and of the bare phonon energy (unscreened by metallic electrons) determine the stability of lattice vibrations. Electron doping also causes an expansion of the lattice, so strain is a secondary but also relevant effect.

Site-dependent magnetism of Ni adatoms on MgO/Ag(001)

We examine the adsorption of a single Ni atom on a monolayer of MgO on a Ag substrate using DFT and DFT+U computational approaches. We find that the electronic and magnetic properties vary considerably across the three binding sites of the surface. Two of the binding sites are competitive in energy, and the preferred site depends on the strength of the on-site Coulomb interaction U. These results can be understood in terms of the competition between bonding and magnetism for surface adsorbed transition metal atoms. Comparisons are made with a recent experimental and theoretical study of Co on MgO/Ag, and implications for scanning tunneling microscopy experiments on the Ni system are discussed.