Symmetry effects on spin switching of adatoms

TL;DR

This paper theoretically investigates how different symmetries in magnetic environments influence the stability and switching behavior of adatom spins, identifying conditions for enhanced robustness against perturbations.

Contribution

It introduces a third symmetry that offers robust protection against surface-induced spin flips and analyzes how symmetry affects spin switching under perturbations.

Findings

A third symmetry provides strong protection against spin flips.

Switching behavior reveals system symmetry through low-energy excitations.

Certain symmetries enhance stability of magnetic information in adatoms.

Abstract

Highly symmetric magnetic environments have been suggested to stabilize the magnetic information stored in magnetic adatoms on a surface. Utilized as memory devices such systems are subjected to electron tunneling and external magnetic fields. We analyze theoretically how such perturbations affect the switching probability of a single quantum spin for two characteristic symmetries encountered in recent experiments and suggest a third one that exhibits robust protection against surface induced spin flips. Further we illuminate how the switching of an adatom spin exhibits characteristic behavior with respect to low energy excitations from which the symmetry of the system can be inferred.