1. The role of rare-earth atoms in the anisotropy and antiferromagnetic exchange coupling at a hybrid metal-organic interface
- Author
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Blanco-Rey, María, Castrillo, Rodrigo, Ali, Khadiza, Gargiani, Pierluigi, Ilyn, Max, Gastaldo, Michele, Paradinas, Markos, Valbuena, Miguel A., Mugarza, Aitor, Ortega, J. Enrique, Schiller, Frederik, and Fernández, Laura
- Subjects
Condensed Matter - Materials Science ,Condensed Matter - Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics ,Condensed Matter - Strongly Correlated Electrons - Abstract
Magnetic anisotropy and magnetic exchange interactions are crucial parameters that characterize the hybrid metal-organic interface, key component of an organic spintronic device. We show that the incorporation of 4$f$ RE atoms to hybrid metal-organic interfaces of CuPc/REAu$_2$ type (RE= Gd, Ho) constitutes a feasible approach towards on-demand magnetic properties and functionalities. The GdAu$_2$ and HoAu$_2$ substrates differ in their magnetic anisotropy behavior. Remarkably, the HoAu$_2$ surface boosts the inherent out-of-plane anisotropy of CuPc, owing to the match between the anisotropy axis of substrate and molecule. Furthermore, the presence of RE atoms leads to a spontaneous antiferromagnetic (AFM) exchange coupling at the interface, induced by the 3$d$-4$f$ superexchange interaction between the unpaired 3$d$ electron of CuPc and the 4$f$ electrons of the RE atoms. We show that 4$f$ RE atoms with unquenched quantum orbital momentum ($L$), as it is the case of Ho, induce an anisotropic interfacial exchange coupling., Comment: Main paper: 10 pages and 3 figures; Supplementary Material: 13 pages, 5 figures
- Published
- 2024