Using graphene to control magnetic anisotropy and interaction between supported clusters
Stabilization of magnetic order in clusters/nanoparticles at elevated temperatures is a fundamentally challenging problem. The magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE) that prevents the thermal fluctuations of the magnetization direction can be around 1-10 K in free transition metal clusters of around a dozen atoms. Here in this paper we demonstrate that a graphene support can lead to an order of magnitude enhancement in the anisotropy of supported species. Our studies show that the MAE of supported Co5 and Co13 clusters on graphene increase by factors of 2.6 and 25, respectively. The enhancement is linked to the splitting of selected electronic orbitals that leads to the different orbital contributions along the easy and hard axis. The conductive support enables a magnetic interaction between the deposited species and the nature of the magnetic interaction can be controlled by the separation between supported clusters or by vacancies offering an unprecedented ability to tune characteristics of assemblies.
- Research Organization:
- Virginia Commonwealth Univ., Richmond, VA (United States). Dept. of Physics
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- SC0006420
- OSTI ID:
- 1238974
- Alternate ID(s):
- OSTI ID: 1238975; OSTI ID: 1457337
- Journal Information:
- New Journal of Physics, Vol. 17, Issue 5; ISSN 1367-2630
- Publisher:
- IOP PublishingCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United Kingdom
- Language:
- English
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