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Unusual spin correlations in a nanomagnet

Authors :
Ralph Skomski
Pinaki Mukherjee
T. A. George
Bhaskar Das
Balamurugan Balasubramanian
David J. Sellmyer
Priyanka Manchanda
George C. Hadjipanayis
Source :
Applied Physics Letters. 106:242401
Publication Year :
2015
Publisher :
AIP Publishing, 2015.

Abstract

We show how atomic-scale exchange phenomena can be controlled and exploited in nanoscale itinerant magnets to substantially improve magnetic properties. Cluster-deposition experiments, first-principle simulations, and analytical calculations are used to demonstrate the effect in Co2Si nanoclusters, which have average sizes varying from about 0.6 to 29.5 nm. The cluster-deposited nanoparticles exhibit average magnetic moments of up to 0.70 μB/Co at 10 K and 0.49 μB/Co at 300 K with appreciable magnetocrystalline anisotropies, in sharp contrast to the nearly vanishing bulk magnetization. The underlying spin correlations and associated cluster-size dependence of the magnetization are explained by a surface induced ferromagnetic spin polarization with a decay length of the order of 1 nm, much larger than the nearest-neighbor interatomic distance in the alloy.

Details

ISSN :
10773118 and 00036951
Volume :
106
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Applied Physics Letters
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........126507604071081804076071fc933761
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4922725