Fermi surface and electronic structure of Pb/Ge(111)

The electronic structure of Pb/Ge(111) has been probed along the temperature-induced phase transition ct -root 3X root 3R30 degrees double right arrow 3 X 3 using angle-resolved photoemission. The alpha-root 3X root 3R30 degrees phase is metallic due to the existence of a half-filled, dispersing surface band. The 3 X 3 phase is characterized by the appearance of an additional surface band with 3 X 3 periodicity, whose role in the phase transition is discussed. The Fermi-surface topology of the alpha-root 3X root 3R30 degrees phase has been probed using angle-resolved photoemission. Its shape is undulated, and it resembles strongly the theoretical prediction, with a Fermi momentum of 0.31 Angstrom(-1) along directions and 0.40 Angstrom(-1) along directions. These values were determined from different experimental methods, and agree with the values needed for a perfect 3 X 3 nesting. However, the Fermi surface exhibits no large flat areas suitable for electronic nesting

Origin of the surface metallization in single-domain K/Si(100)2x1

The electronic structure and the metallization onset of single-domain K/Si(100)2x1 have been investigated with angle-resolved polarization-sensitive ultraviolet photoemission. The electronic states producing the surface metallization have been studied for increasing K coverages up to room-temperature saturation. As K coverage increases, the interface undergoes a transition at a critical coverage, from a low-coverage semiconducting phase, to a saturation-coverage metallic phase. Two different surface states (F-1 and F-2) have been detected in the vicinity of the Fermi level. These two states are sequentially filled along the metallization process. The coverage dependence of both F-1 and F-2, and their symmetry properties indicate that the metallization is due to the filling of an initially empty surface band (appearance of F-2) We relate F-1 to the completion of K chains in the single-domain surface. The changes detected in K 3p line shape correlate well with the modifications of the valence band, and support that the surface remains semiconducting up to the filling of F-2

Tailoring the magnetization states in 2D arrays of multiresponse ferromagnetic nanomagnets

We have fabricated Fe52-54Co46-48 nanomagnet arrays as a function of several geometrical parameters like the spacing between nanostructures, the aspect ratio and the layers thicknesses. The nanomagnets consist in two magnetic layers, separated by a non magnetic interlayer, that interact through magnetostatic coupling. They present a multiresponse hysteresis loops with two different switching fields. We have performed micromagnetic simulations to discern the role play by the different interactions. The spacing in the array strongly modifies the saturating field along the short axis and the magnetization reversal mechanisms from coherent rotation to domain wall nucleation. A small asymmetry between the two magnetic layers favors a magnetization reversal mechanism along the long axis with two different switching fields. These fields can be tailored through the thickness of the layers or the inter-element spacing in the array. In trilayers with the same magnetic layer thicknesses, the asymmetry can be induced by growing the two magnetic layers with a different anisotropy. The well-defined reversal fields make these nanomagnets potentially useful for magnetic tagging

Memory effect and magnetocrystalline anisotropy impact on the surface magnetic domains of magnetite(001)

The structure of magnetic domains, i.e. regions of uniform magnetization separated by domain walls, depends on the balance of competing interactions present in ferromagnetic (or ferrimagnetic) materials. When these interactions change then domain configurations also change as a result. Magnetite provides a good test bench to study these effects, as its magnetocrystalline anisotropy varies significantly with temperature. Using spin-polarized electron microscopy to map the micromagnetic domain structure in the (001) surface of a macroscopic magnetite crystal (similar to 1 cm size) shows complex domain patterns with characteristic length-scales in the micrometer range and highly temperature dependent domain geometries. Although heating above the Curie temperature erases the domain patterns completely, cooling down reproduces domain patterns not only in terms of general characteristics: instead, complex microscopic domain geometries are reproduced in almost perfect fidelity between heating cycles. A possible explanation of the origin of the high-fidelity reproducibility is suggested to be a combination of the presence of hematite inclusions that lock bulk domains, together with the strong effect of the first order magnetocrystalline anisotropy which competes with the shape anisotropy to give rise to the observed complex patterns

Large Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction induced by chemisorbed oxygen on a ferromagnet surface

The Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) is an antisymmetric exchange interaction that stabilizes chiral spin textures. It is induced by inversion symmetry breaking in noncentrosymmetric lattices or at interfaces. Recently, interfacial DMI has been found in magnetic layers adjacent to transition metals due to the spin-orbit coupling and at interfaces with graphene due to the Rashba effect. We report direct observation of strong DMI induced by chemisorption of oxygen on a ferromagnetic layer at room temperature. The sign of this DMI and its unexpectedly large magnitude-despite the low atomic number of oxygen-are derived by examining the oxygen coverage-dependent evolution of magnetic chirality. We find that DMI at the oxygen/ferromagnet interface is comparable to those at ferromagnet/transition metal interfaces; it has enabled direct tailoring of skyrmion's winding number at room temperature via oxygen chemisorption. This result extends the understanding of the DMI, opening up opportunities for the chemisorption-related design of spin-orbitronic devices

Helical surface magnetization in nanowires: the role of chirality

Nanomagnetism is nowadays expanding into three dimensions, triggered by the discovery of new magnetic phenomena and their potential use in applications. This shift towards 3D structures should be accompanied by strategies and methodologies to map the tridimensional spin textures associated. We present here a combination of dichroic X-ray transmission microscopy at different angles and micromagnetic simulations allowing to determine the magnetic configuration of cylindrical nanowires. We have applied it to permalloy nanowires with equispaced chemical barriers that can act as pinning sites for domain walls. The magnetization at the core is longitudinal and generates at the surface of the wire helical magnetization. Different types of domain walls are found at the pinning sites, which respond differently to applied fields depending on the relative chirality of the adjacent domains

Formation of a magnetite/hematite epitaxial bilayer generated with low energy ion bombardment

We have used a low-energy ion bombardment to fabricate an epitaxial single-crystalline magnetite/hematite bilayer grown on Au(111). This non-conventional fabrication method involves the transformation of the upper layers of a single-crystalline hematite thin film to single-crystalline magnetite, a process driven by the preferential sputtering of oxygen atoms and favoured by the good structural matching of both phases. We show the reversibility of the transformation between hematite and magnetite, always keeping the epitaxial and single- crystalline character of the films. The magnetic characterization of the bilayer grown using this method shows that the magnetic response is mainly determined by the magnetite thin film, exhibiting a high coercivity. Published by AIP Publishing

Magnetism in nanometer-thick magnetite

The oldest known magnetic material, magnetite, is of current interest for use in spintronics as a thin film. An open question is how thin can magnetite films be and still retain the robust ferrimagnetism required for many applications. We have grown 1-nm-thick magnetite crystals and characterized them in situ by electron and photoelectron microscopies including selected-area x-ray circular dichroism. Well-defined magnetic patterns are observed in individual nanocrystals up to at least 520 K, establishing the retention of ferrimagnetism in magnetite two unit cells thick

Highly Bi-doped Cu thin films with large spin-mixing conductance

The spin Hall effect (SHE) provides an efficient tool for the production of pure spin currents, essentially for the next generation of spintronics devices. Giant SHE has been reported in Cu doped with 0.5% Bi grown by sputtering, and larger values are predicted for larger Bi doping. In this work, we demonstrate the possibility of doping Cu with up to 10% of Bi atoms without evidence of Bi surface segregation or cluster formation. In addition, YIG/BiCu structures have been grown, showing a spin mixing conductance larger that the one shown by similar Pt/YIG structures, reflecting the potentiality of these newmaterials

Observation of a topologically protected state in a magnetic domain wall stabilized by a ferromagnetic chemical barrier

The precise control and stabilization of magnetic domain walls is key for the development of the next generation magnetic nano-devices. Among the multitude of magnetic configurations of a magnetic domain wall, topologically protected states are of particular interest due to their intrinsic stability. In this work, using XMCD-PEEM, we have observed a topologically protected magnetic domain wall in a ferromagnetic cylindrical nanowire. Its structure is stabilized by periodic sharp alterations of the chemical composition in the nanowire. The large stability of this topologically protected domain wall contrasts with the mobility of other non-protected and non-chiral states also present in the same nanowire. The micromagnetic simulations show the structure and the conditions required to find the topologically protected state. These results are relevant for the design of future spintronic devices such as domain wall based RF oscillators or magnetic memories