An {\it ab initio} study of the magnetic and electronic properties of Fe, Co, and Ni nanowires on Cu(001) surface

Magnetism at the nanoscale has been a very active research area in the past decades, because of its novel fundamental physics and exciting potential applications. We have recently performed an {\it ab intio} study of the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of all 3$d$ transition metal (TM) freestanding atomic chains and found that Fe and Ni nanowires have a giant magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE), indicating that these nanowires would have applications in high density magnetic data storages. In this paper, we perform density functional calculations for the Fe, Co and Ni linear atomic chains on Cu(001) surface within the generalized gradient approximation, in order to investigate how the substrates would affect the magnetic properties of the nanowires. We find that Fe, Co and Ni linear chains on Cu(001) surface still have a stable or metastable ferromagnetic state. When spin-orbit coupling (SOC) is included, the spin magnetic moments remain almost unchanged, due to the weakness of SOC in 3$d$ TM chains, whilst significant orbital magnetic moments appear and also are direction-dependent. Finally, we find that the MAE for Fe, and Co remains large, i.e., being not much affected by the presence of Cu substrate.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Magnetic moment and magnetic anisotropy of linear and zigzag 4{\it d} and 5{\it d} transition metal nanowires: First-principles calculations

An extensive {\it ab initio} study of the physical properties of both linear and zigzag atomic chains of all 4$d$ and 5$d$ transition metals (TM) within the GGA by using the accurate PAW method, has been carried out. All the TM linear chains are found to be unstable against the corresponding zigzag structures. All the TM chains, except Nb, Ag and La, have a stable (or metastable) magnetic state in either the linear or zigzag or both structures. Magnetic states appear also in the sufficiently stretched Nb and La linear chains and in the largely compressed Y and La chains. The spin magnetic moments in the Mo, Tc, Ru, Rh, W, Re chains could be large ($\geq$1.0 $\mu_B$/atom). Structural transformation from the linear to zigzag chains could suppress the magnetism already in the linear chain, induce the magnetism in the zigzag structure, and also cause a change of the magnetic state (ferromagnetic to antiferroamgetic or vice verse). The calculations including the spin-orbit coupling reveal that the orbital moments in the Zr, Tc, Ru, Rh, Pd, Hf, Ta, W, Re, Os, Ir and Pt chains could be rather large ($\geq$0.1 $\mu_B$/atom). Importantly, large magnetic anisotropy energy ($\geq$1.0 meV/atom) is found in most of the magnetic TM chains, suggesting that these nanowires could have fascinating applications in ultrahigh density magnetic memories and hard disks. In particular, giant magnetic anisotropy energy ($\geq$10.0 meV/atom) could appear in the Ru, Re, Rh, and Ir chains. Furthermore, the magnetic anisotropy energy in several elongated linear chains could be as large as 40.0 meV/atom. A spin-reorientation transition occurs in the Ru, Ir, Ta, Zr, La and Zr, Ru, La, Ta and Ir linear chains when they are elongated. Remarkably, all the 5$d$ as well as Tc and Pd chains show the colossal magnetic anisotropy (i.e., it is impossible to rotate magnetization into certain directions). Finally, the electronic band structure and density of states of the nanowires have also been calculated in order to understand the electronic origin of the large magnetic anisotropy and orbital magnetic moment as well as to estimate the conduction electron spin polarization.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev.

Magnetic anisotropy and spin-spiral wave in V, Cr and Mn atomic chains on Cu(001) surface: First principles calculations

Recent ab intio studies of the magnetic properties of all 3d transition metal(TM) freestanding atomic chains predicted that these nanowires could have a giant magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE) and might support a spin-spiral structure, thereby suggesting that these nanowires would have technological applicationsin, e.g., high density magnetic data storages. In order to investigate how the substrates may affect the magnetic properties of the nanowires, here we systematically study the V, Cr and Mn linear atomic chains on the Cu(001) surface based on the density functional theory with the generalized gradient approximation. We find that V, Cr, and Mn linear chains on the Cu(001) surface still have a stable or metastable ferromagnetic state. However, the ferromagnetic state is unstable against formation of a noncollinear spin-spiral structure in the Mn linear chains and also the V linear chain on the atop sites on the Cu(001) surface, due to the frustrated magnetic interactions in these systems. Nonetheless, the presence of the Cu(001) substrate does destabilize the spin-spiral state already present in the freestanding V linear chain and stabilizes the ferromagnetic state in the V linear chain on the hollow sites on Cu(001). When spin-orbit coupling (SOC) is included, the spin magnetic moments remain almost unchanged, due to the weakness of SOC in 3d TM chains. Furthermore, both the orbital magnetic moments and MAEs for the V, Cr and Mn are small, in comparison with both the corresponding freestanding nanowires and also the Fe, Co and Ni linear chains on the Cu (001) surface.Comment: Accepted for publication in J. Phys. D: Applied Physic

Systematic {\it ab initio} study of the magnetic and electronic properties of all 3d transition metal linear and zigzag nanowires

It is found that all the zigzag chains except the nonmagnetic (NM) Ni and antiferromagnetic (AF) Fe chains which form a twisted two-legger ladder, look like a corner-sharing triangle ribbon, and have a lower total energy than the corresponding linear chains. All the 3d transition metals in both linear and zigzag structures have a stable or metastable ferromagnetic (FM) state. The electronic spin-polarization at the Fermi level in the FM Sc, V, Mn, Fe, Co and Ni linear chains is close to 90% or above. In the zigzag structure, the AF state is more stable than the FM state only in the Cr chain. It is found that the shape anisotropy energy may be comparable to the electronic one and always prefers the axial magnetization in both the linear and zigzag structures. In the zigzag chains, there is also a pronounced shape anisotropy in the plane perpendicular to the chain axis. Remarkably, the axial magnetic anisotropy in the FM Ni linear chain is gigantic, being ~12 meV/atom. Interestingly, there is a spin-reorientation transition in the FM Fe and Co linear chains when the chains are compressed or elongated. Large orbital magnetic moment is found in the FM Fe, Co and Ni linear chains

Resonant Subband Landau Level Coupling in Symmetric Quantum Well

Subband structure and depolarization shifts in an ultra-high mobility GaAs/Al_{0.24}Ga_{0.76}As quantum well are studied using magneto-infrared spectroscopy via resonant subband Landau level coupling. Resonant couplings between the 1st and up to the 4th subbands are identified by well-separated anti-level-crossing split resonance, while the hy-lying subbands were identified by the cyclotron resonance linewidth broadening in the literature. In addition, a forbidden intersubband transition (1st to 3rd) has been observed. With the precise determination of the subband structure, we find that the depolarization shift can be well described by the semiclassical slab plasma model, and the possible origins for the forbidden transition are discussed.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure

Magneto-Infrared Spectroscopic Study of Ultrathin Bi2_{2}Te3_{3} Single Crystals

Ultrathin Bi$_{2}$Te$_{3}$ single crystals laid on Scotch tape are investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy at $4$K and in a magnetic field up to $35$T. The magneto-transmittance spectra of the Bi$_{2}$% Te$_{3}$/tape composite are analyzed as a two-layer system and the optical conductivity of Bi$_{2}$Te$_{3}$ at different magnetic fields are extracted. We find that magnetic field modifies the optical conductivity in the following ways: (1) Field-induced transfer of the optical weight from the lower frequency regime ($<250$cm$^{-1}$) to the higher frequency regime ($$cm$^{-1}$) due to the redistribution of charge carriers across the Fermi surface. (2) Evolving of a Fano-resonance-like spectral feature from an anti-resonance to a resonance with increasing magnetic field. Such behavior can be attributed to the electron-phonon interactions between the $$ optical phonon mode and the continuum of electronic transitions. (3) Cyclotron resonance resulting from the inter-valence band Landau level transitions, which can be described by the electrodynamics of massive Dirac holes

Infrared spectroscopy of Landau levels in graphene

We report infrared studies of the Landau level (LL) transitions in single layer graphene. Our specimens are density tunable and show \textit{in situ} half-integer quantum Hall plateaus. Infrared transmission is measured in magnetic fields up to B=18 T at selected LL fillings. Resonances between hole LLs and electron LLs, as well as resonances between hole and electron LLs are resolved. Their transition energies are proportional to $\sqrt{B}$ and the deduced band velocity is $\tilde{c}\approx1.1\times10^6$ m/s. The lack of precise scaling between different LL transitions indicates considerable contributions of many-particle effects to the infrared transition energies.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let

Dual-species Bose-Einstein condensates of 7^{7}Li and 133^{133}Cs

We report the creation of dual-species Bose-Einstein condensates (BECs) of $^{7}$Li and $^{133}$Cs. These BECs are formed in a bichromatic optical dipole trap created with 1550-nm and 780-nm laser beams. During the production process, an external magnetic field of 886~G is applied to adjust the scattering lengths to $a_{\rm{Cs}} = 123a_0$, $a_{\rm{Li}} = 484a_0$, and $a_{\rm{LiCs}} = 248a_0$. These scattering lengths allow for efficient evaporation and sympathetic cooling. The dual-species BECs are typically produced with $1.5\times 10^4$ Cs atoms and $6.0\times 10^3$ Li atoms. This quantum degenerate mixture of Li and Cs provides an ideal platform for exploring phenomena such as polarons and Efimov trimers, as well as for creating ground-state LiCs molecules.Comment: 9 pages, 9 figure