Competing magnetic anisotropies in atomic-scale junctions

Abstract

Using first-principles calculations, we study the magnetism of 5d transition-metal atomic junctions including structural relaxations and spin-orbit coupling. Upon stretching monatomic chains of W, Ir, and Pt suspended between two leads, we find the development of strong magnetism and large values of the magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy (MAE) of up to 30 meV per chain atom. We predict that switches of the easy magnetization axis of the nanocontacts upon elongation should be observable by ballistic anisotropic magnetoresistance measurements. Due to the different local symmetry, the contributions to the MAE of the central chain atoms and chain atoms in the vicinity of the leads can have opposite signs which reduces the total MAE. We demonstrate that this effect occurs independent of the chain length or geometry of the electrodes.

accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. B

References in corpus (7)

• The Kondo effect in ferromagnetic atomic contacts
• Formation of a Metallic Contact: Jump to Contact Revisited
• Magnetic anisotropies of late transition metal atomic clusters
• Kondo Conductance in an Atomic Nanocontact from First Principles
• Transport in magnetically ordered Pt nanocontacts
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Cited by in corpus (6)

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• Modelling impurity-assisted chain creation in noble-metal break junctions
• Conductance fingerprints of non-collinear magnetic states in single atom contacts: a first-principles Wannier functions study
• Theoretical study of magnetic domain walls through a cobalt nanocontact
• Spin locking at the apex of nano-scale platinum tips
• Magnetism- and impurity-assisted chain creation in Ir and Pt break junctions