IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v7y2016i1d10.1038_ncomms10454.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Absence of a spin-signature from a single Ho adatom as probed by spin-sensitive tunneling

Author

Listed:
  • M. Steinbrecher

    (Hamburg University)

  • A. Sonntag

    (Hamburg University)

  • M. dos Santos Dias

    (Peter Grünberg Institut and Institute for Advanced Simulation, Forschungszentrum Jülich & JARA)

  • M. Bouhassoune

    (Peter Grünberg Institut and Institute for Advanced Simulation, Forschungszentrum Jülich & JARA)

  • S. Lounis

    (Peter Grünberg Institut and Institute for Advanced Simulation, Forschungszentrum Jülich & JARA)

  • J. Wiebe

    (Hamburg University)

  • R. Wiesendanger

    (Hamburg University)

  • A. A. Khajetoorians

    (Hamburg University
    Institute for Molecules and Materials (IMM), Radboud University)

Abstract

Whether rare-earth materials can be used as single-atom magnetic memory is an ongoing debate in recent literature. Here we show, by inelastic and spin-resolved scanning tunnelling-based methods, that we observe a strong magnetic signal and excitation from Fe atoms adsorbed on Pt(111), but see no signatures of magnetic excitation or spin-based telegraph noise for Ho atoms. Moreover, we observe that the indirect exchange field produced by a single Ho atom is negligible, as sensed by nearby Fe atoms. We demonstrate, using ab initio methods, that this stems from a comparatively weak coupling of the Ho 4f electrons with both tunnelling electrons and substrate-derived itinerant electrons, making both magnetic coupling and detection very difficult when compared to 3d elements. We discuss these results in the context of ongoing disputes and clarify important controversies.

Suggested Citation

  • M. Steinbrecher & A. Sonntag & M. dos Santos Dias & M. Bouhassoune & S. Lounis & J. Wiebe & R. Wiesendanger & A. A. Khajetoorians, 2016. "Absence of a spin-signature from a single Ho adatom as probed by spin-sensitive tunneling," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 7(1), pages 1-6, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms10454
    DOI: 10.1038/ncomms10454
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms10454
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/ncomms10454?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:7:y:2016:i:1:d:10.1038_ncomms10454. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.