36,848 research outputs found
Exchange coupling between magnetic layers across non-magnetic superlattices
The oscillation periods of the interlayer exchange coupling are investigated
when two magnetic layers are separated by a metallic superlattice of two
distinct non-magnetic materials. In spite of the conventional behaviour of the
coupling as a function of the spacer thickness, new periods arise when the
coupling is looked upon as a function of the number of cells of the
superlattice. The new periodicity results from the deformation of the
corresponding Fermi surface, which is explicitly related to a few controllable
parameters, allowing the oscillation periods to be tuned.Comment: 13 pages; 5 figures; To appear in J. Phys.: Cond. Matte
Dynamic RKKY interaction in graphene
The growing interest in carbon-based spintronics has stimulated a number of
recent theoretical studies on the RKKY interaction in graphene, based on which
the energetically favourable alignment between magnetic moments embedded in
this material can be calculated. The general consensus is that the strength of
the RKKY interaction in graphene decays as 1/D3 or faster, where D is the
separation between magnetic moments. Such an unusually fast decay for a
2-dimensional system suggests that the RKKY interaction may be too short ranged
to be experimentally observed in graphene. Here we show in a mathematically
transparent form that a far more long ranged interaction arises when the
magnetic moments are taken out of their equilibrium positions and set in
motion. We not only show that this dynamic version of the RKKY interaction in
graphene decays far more slowly but also propose how it can be observed with
currently available experimental methods.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures, submitte
Strain-Modified RKKY Interaction in Carbon Nanotubes
For low-dimensional metallic structures, such as nanotubes, the exchange
coupling between localized magnetic dopants is predicted to decay slowly with
separation. The long-range character of this interaction plays a significant
role in determining the magnetic order of the system. It has previously been
shown that the interaction range depends on the conformation of the magnetic
dopants in both graphene and nanotubes. Here we examine the RKKY interaction in
carbon nanotubes in the presence of uniaxial strain for a range of different
impurity configurations. We show that strain is capable of amplifying or
attenuating the RKKY interaction, significantly increasing certain interaction
ranges, and acting as a switch: effectively turning on or off the interaction.
We argue that uniaxial strain can be employed to significantly manipulate
magnetic interactions in carbon nanotubes, allowing an interplay between
mechanical and magnetic properties in future spintronic devices. We also
examine the dimensional relationship between graphene and nanotubes with
regards to the decay rate of the RKKY interaction.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, submitte
Magnetization profile for impurities in graphene nanoribbons
The magnetic properties of graphene-related materials and in particular the
spin-polarised edge states predicted for pristine graphene nanoribbons (GNRs)
with certain edge geometries have received much attention recently due to a
range of possible technological applications. However, the magnetic properties
of pristine GNRs are not predicted to be particularly robust in the presence of
edge disorder. In this work, we examine the magnetic properties of GNRs doped
with transition-metal atoms using a combination of mean-field Hubbard and
Density Functional Theory techniques. The effect of impurity location on the
magnetic moment of such dopants in GNRs is investigated for the two principal
GNR edge geometries - armchair and zigzag. Moment profiles are calculated
across the width of the ribbon for both substitutional and adsorbed impurities
and regular features are observed for zigzag-edged GNRs in particular. Unlike
the case of edge-state induced magnetisation, the moments of magnetic
impurities embedded in GNRs are found to be particularly stable in the presence
of edge disorder. Our results suggest that the magnetic properties of
transition-metal doped GNRs are far more robust than those with moments arising
intrinsically due to edge geometry.Comment: submitte
Graphene-based spin-pumping transistor
We demonstrate with a fully quantum-mechanical approach that graphene can
function as gate-controllable transistors for pumped spin currents, i.e., a
stream of angular momentum induced by the precession of adjacent
magnetizations, which exists in the absence of net charge currents.
Furthermore, we propose as a proof of concept how these spin currents can be
modulated by an electrostatic gate. Because our proposal involves nano-sized
systems that function with very high speeds and in the absence of any applied
bias, it is potentially useful for the development of transistors capable of
combining large processing speeds, enhanced integration and extremely low power
consumption
Graphene as a non-magnetic spin-current lens
In spintronics, the ability to transport magnetic information often depends
on the existence of a spin current traveling between two different magnetic
objects acting as source and probe. A large fraction of this information never
reaches the probe and is lost because the spin current tends to travel
omni-directionally. We propose that a curved boundary between a gated and a
non-gated region within graphene acts as an ideal lens for spin currents
despite being entirely of non-magnetic nature. We show as a proof of concept
that such lenses can be utilized to redirect the spin current that travels away
from a source onto a focus region where a magnetic probe is located, saving a
considerable fraction of the magnetic information that would be otherwise lost.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure
Fundamental Oscillation Periods of the Interlayer Exchange Coupling beyond the RKKY Approximation
A general method for obtaining the oscillation periods of the interlayer
exchange coupling is presented. It is shown that it is possible for the
coupling to oscillate with additional periods beyond the ones predicted by the
RKKY theory. The relation between the oscillation periods and the spacer Fermi
surface is clarified, showing that non-RKKY periods do not bear a direct
correspondence with the Fermi surface. The interesting case of a FCC(110)
structure is investigated, unmistakably proving the existence and relevance of
non-RKKY oscillations. The general conditions for the occurrence of non-RKKY
oscillations are also presented.Comment: 34 pages, 10 figures ; to appear in J. Phys.: Condens. Mat
Impurity segregation in graphene nanoribbons
The electronic properties of low-dimensional materials can be engineered by
doping, but in the case of graphene nanoribbons (GNR) the proximity of two
symmetry-breaking edges introduces an additional dependence on the location of
an impurity across the width of the ribbon. This introduces energetically
favorable locations for impurities, leading to a degree of spatial segregation
in the impurity concentration. We develop a simple model to calculate the
change in energy of a GNR system with an arbitrary impurity as that impurity is
moved across the ribbon and validate its findings by comparison with ab initio
calculations. Although our results agree with previous works predicting the
dominance of edge disorder in GNR, we argue that the distribution of adsorbed
impurities across a ribbon may be controllable by external factors, namely an
applied electric field. We propose that this control over impurity segregation
may allow manipulation and fine-tuning of the magnetic and transport properties
of GNRs.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, submitte
Analytical results for long time behavior in anomalous diffusion
We investigate through a Generalized Langevin formalism the phenomenon of
anomalous diffusion for asymptotic times, and we generalized the concept of the
diffusion exponent. A method is proposed to obtain the diffusion coefficient
analytically through the introduction of a time scaling factor . We
obtain as well an exact expression for for all kinds of diffusion.
Moreover, we show that is a universal parameter determined by the
diffusion exponent. The results are then compared with numerical calculations
and very good agreement is observed. The method is general and may be applied
to many types of stochastic problem
- …