Unusual spin correlations in a nanomagnet

作者：Balasubramanian Balamurugan^*; Manchanda Priyanka; Skomski Ralph; Mukherjee Pinaki; Das Bhaskar; George T A; Hadjipanayis George C; Sellmyer David J

来源：Applied Physics Letters, 2015, 106(24): 242401.

DOI：10.1063/1.4922725

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 mu(B)/Co at 10K and 0.49 mu(B)/Co at 300K 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.

• 出版日期2015-6-15