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Competition of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya and higher-order exchange interactions in Rh/Fe atomic bilayers on Ir(111)

Authors :
Romming, Niklas
Pralow, Henning
Kubetzka, André
Hoffmann, Markus
von Malottki, Stephan
Meyer, Sebastian
Dupé, Bertrand
Wiesendanger, Roland
von Bergmann, Kirsten
Heinze, Stefan
Source :
Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 207201 (2018)
Publication Year :
2016

Abstract

Using spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory we demonstrate the occurrence of a novel type of noncollinear spin structure in Rh/Fe atomic bilayers on Ir(111). We find that higher-order exchange interactions depend sensitively on the stacking sequence. For fcc-Rh/Fe/Ir(111) frustrated exchange interactions are dominant and lead to the formation of a spin spiral ground state with a period of about 1.5 nm. For hcp-Rh/Fe/Ir(111) higher-order exchange interactions favor a double-row wise antiferromagnetic or "uudd" state. However, the Dzyaloshinskii- Moriya interaction at the Fe/Ir interface leads to a small angle of about 4{\deg} between adjacent magnetic moments resulting in a canted "uudd" ground state.

Details

Database :
arXiv
Journal :
Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 207201 (2018)
Publication Type :
Report
Accession number :
edsarx.1610.07853
Document Type :
Working Paper
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.120.207201