An orbitally derived single-atom magnetic memory

Abstract

A single magnetic atom on a surface epitomizes the scaling limit for magnetic information storage. Indeed, recent work has shown that individual atomic spins can exhibit magnetic remanence and be read out with spin-based methods, demonstrating the fundamental requirements for magnetic memory. However, atomic spin memory has been only realized on thin insulating surfaces to date, removing potential tunability via electronic gating or distance-dependent exchange-driven magnetic coupling. Here, we show a novel mechanism for single-atom magnetic information storage based on bistability in the orbital population, or so-called valency, of an individual Co atom on semiconducting black phosphorus (BP). Distance-dependent screening from the BP surface stabilizes the two distinct valencies and enables us to electronically manipulate the relative orbital population, total magnetic moment and spatial charge density of an individual magnetic atom without a spin-dependent readout mechanism. Furthermore, we show that the strongly anisotropic wavefunction can be used to locally tailor the switching dynamics between the two valencies. This orbital memory derives stability from the energetic barrier to atomic relaxation and demonstrates the potential for high-temperature single-atom information storage.

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• Simultaneous ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and grazing incidence X-ray scattering in gas environments
• Complete reversal of the atomic unquenched orbital moment by a single electron
• Quantum transport through the edge states of Zigzag phosphorene nanoribbons in presence of a single point defect: analytic Green's function method
• Tunable transmission due to defects in zigzag phosphorene nanoribbons
• Large perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of transition metal dimers driven by polarization switching of two-dimensional ferroelectric In2Se3 substrate
• Gating orbital memory with an atomic donor
• Control of magnetic interactions between surface adatoms via orbital repopulation
• Anomalous impurity-induced charge modulations in black phosphorus
• Artificial stochastic neural network on the base of double quantum wells