Tuning the magnetic anisotropy of Co nanoparticles by metal capping

The magnetic anisotropy of Co clusters with diameters ranging from 1.1 nm to 4.5 nm turns out to be significantly larger than in bulk and strongly increasing with decreasing cluster size. The dominating role of the surface can be used to modify the anisotropy by changing the electronic properties of...

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Published inEurophysics letters Vol. 76; no. 1; pp. 142 - 148
Main Authors Luis, F, Bartolomé, F, Petroff, F, Bartolomé, J, García, L. M, Deranlot, C, Jaffrès, H, Martínez, M. J, Bencok, P, Wilhelm, F, Rogalev, A, Brookes, N. B
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published IOP Publishing 01.10.2006
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Summary:The magnetic anisotropy of Co clusters with diameters ranging from 1.1 nm to 4.5 nm turns out to be significantly larger than in bulk and strongly increasing with decreasing cluster size. The dominating role of the surface can be used to modify the anisotropy by changing the electronic properties of the matrix surrounding the clusters. We find that capping the clusters by a metallic (Cu and Au) layer significantly enhances the anisotropy, thus also stabilizing the magnetization against thermal fluctuations. The observed anisotropy enhancement is attributed to the bonding of the Co 3d electrons to the conduction band of the capping layer, which depends on the electronic band structures of both metals.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
content type line 23
ISSN:0295-5075
1286-4854
DOI:10.1209/epl/i2006-10242-2