skip to main content


Title: Magnetic and electron transport properties of Co2Si nanomagnets
Magnetotransport and ferromagnetism in thin films of Co2Si nanoclusters are investigated experimentally and theoretically. The nanoclusters are fabricated by an inert-gas condensation-type cluster-deposition method and have an average size of 11.3 nm. Unlike the bulk Co2Si that exhibits a very weak net magnetic moment only below 10 K, the nanoclusters exhibit room-temperature ferromagnetism with a substantial saturation magnetization. Key features of the system are its closeness to the Stoner transition, magnetic moments induced by spin polarization starting from surface atoms, and nonuniaxial anisotropy associated with the orthorhombic crystal structure of Co2Si. A method is introduced to determine the effective anisotropy using the experimental magnetization data of this complex system and its relationship with the two lowest-order nonuniaxial anisotropy constants. On decreasing temperature from 300 K, the nanoclusters show electron-transport properties unusual for a ferromagnetic metal, including an increase of Hall resistivity and a nonmonotonic change of negative magnetoresistance with a peak at around 100 K. The underlying physics is explained on the basis of the large polarization of surface spins and variation in the degree of their misalignments due to temperature-dependent effective anisotropy.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1729288
NSF-PAR ID:
10313618
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Physical review materials
Volume:
5
ISSN:
2476-0455
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
More Like this
  1. The search for new magnetic materials with high magnetization and magnetocrystalline anisotropy is important for a wide range of applications including information and energy processing. There is only a limited number of naturally occurring magnetic compounds that are suitable. This situation stimulates an exploration of new phases that occur far from thermal-equilibrium conditions, but their stabilization is generally inhibited due to high positive formation energies. Here a nanocluster-deposition method has enabled the discovery of a set of new non-equilibrium Co–N intermetallic compounds. The experimental search was assisted by computational methods including adaptive-genetic-algorithm and electronic-structure calculations. Conventional wisdom is that the interstitial or substitutional solubility of N in Co is much lower than that in Fe and that N in Co in equilibrium alloys does not produce materials with significant magnetization and anisotropy. By contrast, our experiments identify new Co–N compounds with favorable magnetic properties including hexagonal Co 3 N nanoparticles with a high saturation magnetic polarization ( J s = 1.28 T or 12.8 kG) and an appreciable uniaxial magnetocrystalline anisotropy ( K 1 = 1.01 MJ m −3 or 10.1 Mergs per cm 3 ). This research provides a pathway for uncovering new magnetic compounds with computational efficiency beyond the existing materials database, which is significant for future technologies. 
    more » « less
  2. Herein we report heteroleptic Co( ii ) diimine complexes [Co(H 2 bip) 2 Cl 2 ] ( 1 ), [Co(H 2 bip) 2 Br 2 ] ( 2 ), [Co(H 2 bip) 3 ]Br 2 ·1MeOH ( 3 ) and [Co(H 2 bip) 2 (Me 2 bpy)]Br 2 ·(MeCN) 0.5 ·(H 2 O) 0.25 ( 4 ) (H 2 bip = 2,2′-bi-1,4,5,6-tetrahydropyrimidine, bpy = 2,2′-dipyridyl, Me 2 bpy = 4,4′-Me-2,2′-dipyridyl), purposefully prepared to enable a systematic study of magnetic property changes arising from the increase of overall ligand field from σ/π-donor chlorido ( 1 ) to π-acceptor 4,4′Me-2,2′bpy ( 4 ). The presence of axial and rhombic anisotropy ( D and E ) of these compounds is sufficient to allow 1–4 to show field-induced slow relaxation of magnetization. Interestingly, we found as the effective ligand field is increased in the series, rhombicity ( E / D ) decreases, and the magnetic relaxation profile changes significantly, where relaxation of magnetization at a specific temperature becomes gradually faster. We performed mechanistic analyses of the temperature dependence of magnetic relaxation times considering Orbach relaxation processes, Raman-like relaxation and quantum tunnelling of magnetization (QTM). The effective energy barrier of the Orbach relaxation process ( U eff ) is largest in compound 1 (19.2 cm −1 ) and gradually decreases in the order 1 > 2 > 3 > 4 giving a minimum value in compound 4 (8.3 cm −1 ), where the Raman-like mechanism showed the possibility of different types of phonon activity below and above ∼2.5 K. As a precursor of 1 , the tetrahedral complex [Co(H 2 bip)Cl 2 ] ( 1a ) was also synthesized and structurally and magnetically characterized: this compound exhibits slow relaxation of magnetization under an applied dc field (1800 Oe) with a record slow relaxation time of 3.39 s at 1.8 K. 
    more » « less
  3. null (Ed.)
    We present structural, magnetic, and optical properties of hexagonal HoFeO3/Al2O3 thin films deposited by Magnetron Sputtering. The x-ray diffraction patterns of HoFeO3 thin films show the c-planes of a hexagonal structure. The magnetization data display an antiferromagnetic transition temperature, TN∼120 ± 5 K and the magnetization-field hysteresis loops were measured below 100 K, confirming a weak ferromagnetism arising from a spin canting of the Fe3+ moments. The magnetization data also show an anomaly around ∼40 K due to a spin-reorientation transition caused by the Ho3+- Fe3+ interactions. We observed comparable magnetization along the ab plane and c axis although the spin canting of Fe3+ sites has a preferential component along the c axis, suggesting that the Ho3+- Fe3+ interactions dominate in the low temperature magnetic structures of hexagonal-HoFeO3. The observed electronic excitations at ∼2.29, 2.87, 3.82, 4.79, and 6.53 eV have been assigned to the Fe3+ d to d on-site as well as O 2p to Fe 3d, Ho 6s, and 5d charge-transfer excitations, respectively. The room temperature energy band gap of the hexagonal-HoFeO3 thin film was measured to be ∼1.99 ± 0.04 eV. 
    more » « less
  4. Abstract While the discovery of two-dimensional (2D) magnets opens the door for fundamental physics and next-generation spintronics, it is technically challenging to achieve the room-temperature ferromagnetic (FM) order in a way compatible with potential device applications. Here, we report the growth and properties of single- and few-layer CrTe 2 , a van der Waals (vdW) material, on bilayer graphene by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE). Intrinsic ferromagnetism with a Curie temperature ( T C ) up to 300 K, an atomic magnetic moment of ~0.21  $${\mu }_{{\rm{B}}}$$ μ B /Cr and perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) constant ( K u ) of 4.89 × 10 5  erg/cm 3 at room temperature in these few-monolayer films have been unambiguously evidenced by superconducting quantum interference device and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism. This intrinsic ferromagnetism has also been identified by the splitting of majority and minority band dispersions with ~0.2 eV at Г point using angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. The FM order is preserved with the film thickness down to a monolayer ( T C  ~ 200 K), benefiting from the strong PMA and weak interlayer coupling. The successful MBE growth of 2D FM CrTe 2 films with room-temperature ferromagnetism opens a new avenue for developing large-scale 2D magnet-based spintronics devices. 
    more » « less
  5. Because of the importance of ferromagnetism at room temperature, we search for new materials that can exhibit a non-vanishing magnetic moment at room temperature and at the same time can be used in spintronics. The experimental results indicate that d 0 ferromagnetism without any magnetic impurities takes place in PbS films made of close-packed lead sulfide nanoparticles of 30 nm. To explain the existence of the d 0 ferromagnetism, we propose a model where various PbS bulk and surface configurations of Pb-vacancies are analyzed. The bulk configurations have a zero magnetic moment while the two surface configurations with Pb vacancies with the same non-vanishing magnetic moments and lowest ground state energies contribute to the total magnetization. Based on the experimental value of the saturation magnetization, 0.2 emu g −1 , we have found that the calculated Pb vacancy concentration should be about 3.5%, which is close to typical experimental values. Besides being very important for applications, there is one feature of PbS d 0 ferromagnetism that makes this material special for fundamental research: PbS ferromagnetism can exhibit topologically driven spatial magnetic moment distributions ( e.g. , magnetic skyrmions) due to large spin–orbit coupling. 
    more » « less