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Imaging and manipulating the spin direction of individual atoms

Nature Nanotechnology volume 5, pages 350–353 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

Single magnetic atoms on surfaces are the smallest conceivable units for two-dimensional magnetic data storage. Previous experiments on such systems have investigated magnetization curves1,2, the many-body Kondo effect3,4 and magnetic excitations in quantum spin systems5,6, but a stable magnetization has not yet been detected for an atom on a non-magnetic surface in the absence of a magnetic field. The spin direction of a single magnetic atom can be fixed by coupling it to an underlying magnetic substrate via the exchange interaction7,8, but it is then difficult to differentiate between the magnetism of the atom and the surface. Here, we take advantage of the orbital symmetry of the spin-polarized density of states of single cobalt atoms to unambiguously determine their spin direction in real space using a combination of spin-resolved scanning tunnelling microscopy experiments and ab initio calculations. By laterally moving atoms on our non-collinear magnetic template9, the spin direction can also be controlled while maintaining magnetic sensitivity, thereby providing an approach for constructing and characterizing artificial atomic-scale magnetic structures.

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Figure 1: SP-STM measurements of single cobalt atoms on one atomic layer of manganese on W(110), with a tip sensitive to the out-of-plane magnetization.
Figure 2: Calculated spin-resolved local density of states of a cobalt atom on Mn/W(110).
Figure 3: SP-STM images showing cobalt atoms changing symmetry when moved to adjacent sites.
Figure 4: Chain of cobalt atoms constructed by atom manipulation while maintaining spin resolution measured with an up and down magnetized tip.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB668), the European Union ERC Advanced Grant FURORE, the Landesexzellenzcluster NANOSPINTRONICS, the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft, the Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center Hamburg (INCH), the Marie Curie program (MEIF-CT-2006-039071) and the National Science Foundation program PIRE (OISE 0730257) is gratefully acknowledged. We appreciate valuable technical support from M. Langer and fruitful discussions with A. Khajetoorians and C. Lazo.

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  1. David Serrate

    Present address: Present address: Instituto de Nanociencia de Aragón, University of Zaragoza, 50018, Spain,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Applied Physics, University of Hamburg, Jungiusstrasse 11, Hamburg, D-20355, Germany

    David Serrate, Paolo Ferriani, Yasuo Yoshida, Saw-Wai Hla, Matthias Menzel, Kirsten von Bergmann, Stefan Heinze, Andre Kubetzka & Roland Wiesendanger

  2. Institute of Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Leibnizstraße 15, Kiel, 24098, Germany

    Paolo Ferriani & Stefan Heinze

  3. Physics & Astronomy Department, Nanoscale & Quantum Phenomena Institute, Ohio University, Athens, Ohio, 45701, USA

    Saw-Wai Hla

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  1. David Serrate
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Contributions

D.S. and A.K. provided the experimental concept and performed SP-STM. S.-W.H. and Y.Y. carried out atom manipulation, and M.M. and K.v.B. prepared the samples. P.F. and S.H. conducted DFT calculations. All authors discussed the results and prepared the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Andre Kubetzka.

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Serrate, D., Ferriani, P., Yoshida, Y. et al. Imaging and manipulating the spin direction of individual atoms. Nature Nanotech 5, 350–353 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2010.64

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