46 research outputs found
Full Bulk Spin Polarization and Intrinsic Tunnel Barriers at the Surface of Layered Manganites
Transmission of information using the spin of the electron as well as its
charge requires a high degree of spin polarization at surfaces. At surfaces
however this degree of polarization can be quenched by competing interactions.
Using a combination of surface sensitive x-ray and tunneling probes, we show
for the quasi-two-dimensional bilayer manganites that the outermost Mn-O
bilayer, alone, is affected: it is a 1-nm thick insulator that exhibits no
long-range ferromagnetic order while the next bilayer displays the full spin
polarization of the bulk. Such an abrupt localization of the surface effects is
due to the two-dimensional nature of the layered manganite while the loss of
ferromagnetism is attributed to weakened double exchange in the reconstructed
surface bilayer and a resultant antiferromagnetic phase. The creation of a
well-defined surface insulator demonstrates the ability to naturally
self-assemble two of the most demanding components of an ideal magnetic tunnel
junction.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figure
Nanoscale Suppression of Magnetization at Atomically Assembled Manganite Interfaces
Using polarized X-rays, we compare the electronic and magnetic properties of
a La(2/3)Sr(1/3)MnO(3)(LSMO)/SrTiO(3)(STO) and a modified
LSMO/LaMnO(3)(LMO)/STO interface. Using the technique of X-ray resonant
magnetic scattering (XRMS), we can probe the interfaces of complicated layered
structures and quantitatively model depth-dependent magnetic profiles as a
function of distance from the interface. Comparisons of the average electronic
and magnetic properties at the interface are made independently using X-ray
absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD). The
XAS and the XMCD demonstrate that the electronic and magnetic structure of the
LMO layer at the modified interface is qualitatively equivalent to the
underlying LSMO film. From the temperature dependence of the XMCD, it is found
that the near surface magnetization for both interfaces falls off faster than
the bulk. For all temperatures in the range of 50K - 300K, the magnetic
profiles for both systems always show a ferromagnetic component at the
interface with a significantly suppressed magnetization that evolves to the
bulk value over a length scale of ~1.6 - 2.4 nm. The LSMO/LMO/STO interface
shows a larger ferromagnetic (FM) moment than the LSMO/STO interface, however
the difference is only substantial at low temperature.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Suppressed Magnetization at the Surfaces and Interfaces of Ferromagnetic Metallic Manganites
What happens to ferromagnetism at the surfaces and interfaces of manganites?
With the competition between charge, spin, and orbital degrees of freedom, it
is not surprising that the surface behavior may be profoundly different than
that of the bulk. Using a powerful combination of two surface probes, tunneling
and polarized x-ray interactions, this paper reviews our work on the nature of
the electronic and magnetic states at manganite surfaces and interfaces. The
general observation is that ferromagnetism is not the lowest energy state at
the surface or interface, which results in a suppression or even loss of
ferromagnetic order at the surface. Two cases will be discussed ranging from
the surface of the quasi-2D bilayer manganite
(LaSrMnO) to the 3D Perovskite
(LaSrMnO)/SrTiO interface. For the bilayer manganite,
that is, ferromagnetic and conducting in the bulk, these probes present clear
evidence for an intrinsic insulating non-ferromagnetic surface layer atop
adjacent subsurface layers that display the full bulk magnetization. This
abrupt intrinsic magnetic interface is attributed to the weak inter-bilayer
coupling native to these quasi-two-dimensional materials. This is in marked
contrast to the non-layered manganite system
(LaSrMnO/SrTiO), whose magnetization near the interface
is less than half the bulk value at low temperatures and decreases with
increasing temperature at a faster rate than the bulk.Comment: 15 pages, 13 figure
Superlow-Friction Carbon Films for Fuel System Components Operating in Low-Sulfur Diesel Fuels
Charge transport and magnetization profile at the interface between a correlated metal and an antiferromagnetic insulator
A combination of spectroscopic probes was used to develop a detailed
experimental description of the transport and magnetic properties of
superlattices composed of the paramagnetic metal CaRuO and the
antiferromagnetic insulator CaMnO. The charge carrier density and Ru
valence state in the superlattices are not significantly different from those
of bulk CaRuO. The small charge transfer across the interface implied by
these observations confirms predictions derived from density functional
calculations. However, a ferromagnetic polarization due to canted Mn spins
penetrates 3-4 unit cells into CaMnO, far exceeding the corresponding
predictions. The discrepancy may indicate the formation of magnetic polarons at
the interface.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Electronic structure investigation of Ti3AlC2, Ti3SiC2, and Ti3GeC2 by soft-X-ray emission spectroscopy
The electronic structures of epitaxially grown films of Ti3AlC2, Ti3SiC2 and
Ti3GeC2 have been investigated by bulk-sensitive soft X-ray emission
spectroscopy. The measured high-resolution Ti L, C K, Al L, Si L and Ge M
emission spectra are compared with ab initio density-functional theory
including core-to-valence dipole matrix elements. A qualitative agreement
between experiment and theory is obtained. A weak covalent Ti-Al bond is
manifested by a pronounced shoulder in the Ti L-emission of Ti3AlC2. As Al is
replaced with Si or Ge, the shoulder disappears. For the buried Al and
Si-layers, strongly hybridized spectral shapes are detected in Ti3AlC2 and
Ti3SiC2, respectively. As a result of relaxation of the crystal structure and
the increased charge-transfer from Ti to C, the Ti-C bonding is strengthened.
The differences between the electronic structures are discussed in relation to
the bonding in the nanolaminates and the corresponding change of materials
properties.Comment: 15 pages, 8 figure
Kondo screening of the spin and orbital magnetic moments of Fe impurities in Cu
We use x-ray magnetic circular dichroism to evidence the effect of correlations on the local impurity magnetic moment in an archetypal Kondo system, namely, a dilute Cu:Fe alloy. Applying the sum rules on the Fe L2,3 absorption edges, the evolution of the spin and orbital moments across the Kondo temperature are determined separately. The spin moment presents a crossover from a nearly temperature-independent regime below the Kondo temperature to a paramagneticlike regime above. Conversely, the weak orbital moment shows a temperature-independent behavior in the whole temperature range, suggesting different Kondo screening temperature scales for the spin and orbital moments
Direct evidence of imprinted vortex states in the antiferromagnet of exchange biased microdisks
This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics.The magnetic domain structure of patterned antiferromagnetic/ferromagnetic Ir20Mn80/Ni80Fe20 bilayer microdisk arrays has been investigated using layer-specific polarized x-ray photoemission electron microscopy and magnetic circular dichroism. Magnetic imaging at the Fe and Mn L-edge resonances provided direct evidence of a vortex state imprinted into the antiferromagnet at the interface. The opposite magnetic contrast between the layers indicated a reversed chirality of the imprinted vortex state, and a quantitative analysis of the magnetic moment from the dichroism spectra showed that uncompensated Mn spins equivalent to about 60% of a monolayer of bulk Ir20Mn80 contributed to the imprinted information at the interface
Longitudinal detection of ferromagnetic resonance using x-ray transmission measurements
Controlling exchange bias in Fe3O4/FeO composite particles prepared by pulsed laser irradiation
Spherical iron oxide nanocomposite particles composed of magnetite and wustite have been successfully synthesized using a novel method of pulsed laser irradiation in ethyl acetate. Both the size and the composition of nanocomposite particles are controlled by laser irradiation condition. Through tuning the laser fluence, the Fe3O4/FeO phase ratio can be precisely controlled, and the magnetic properties of final products can also be regulated. This work presents a successful example of the fabrication of ferro (ferri) (FM)/antiferromagnetic (AFM) systems with high chemical stability. The results show this novel simple method as widely extendable to various FM/AFM nanocomposite systems