Carrier-dependent magnetic anisotropy of Gd-adsorbed graphene

Journal Article · Sun May 15 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · AIP Advances

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4944513· OSTI ID:22611731

Lu, Yuan; Zhou, Tie-ge; Shao, Bin ^[1]; Zuo, Xu ^[1]; Feng, Min ^[2]

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1. College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071 (China)
2. School of Physics, Nankai University, Tianjin 300071 (China)

Using first-principles calculation based on density functional theory, we study the magnetic anisotropy of Gd-adsorbed graphene and its dependence on carrier accumulation. We show that carrier accumulation not only impacts the magnitude of magnetic anisotropy but also switches its sign. Hole accumulation enhances the perpendicular anisotropy up to ∼16 meV per Gd atom, while electron accumulation switches the anisotropy from perpendicular to in-plane direction. Moreover, we find that the first order perturbation of spin-orbit coupling interaction induces a pseudo-gap at Γ for the perpendicular magnetization, which leads to the the anomalous magnetic anisotropy for the neutral composite. Our findings pave the way for magneto-electric materials based on rare-earth-decorated graphene for voltage-controlled spintronics.

• OSTI ID: 22611731
• Journal Information: AIP Advances, Vol. 6, Issue 5; Other Information: (c) 2016 Author(s); Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 2158-3226
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

77 NANOSCIENCE AND NANOTECHNOLOGY
ADSORPTION
ANISOTROPY
CARRIERS
DENSITY
DENSITY FUNCTIONAL METHOD
DISTURBANCES
GADOLINIUM
GRAPHENE
L-S COUPLING
MAGNETIZATION
ORBITS
PERTURBATION THEORY
RARE EARTHS
SPIN
SWITCHES