Intrinsic life-time and external manipulation of Neel states in antiferromagnetic adatom spins on semiconductor surfaces

TL;DR

This study uses Monte Carlo simulations to analyze the stability and manipulation of Neel states in antiferromagnetic Fe adatom spins on semiconductor surfaces, highlighting their potential for information storage.

Contribution

It provides new insights into the temperature and size dependence of Neel state stability and proposes methods for their external manipulation for data storage applications.

Findings

Neel states become stable with 20 or more Fe spins.

Switching rates follow specific temperature and size laws.

Manipulation methods can enable practical information storage.

Abstract

It has been proposed that antiferromagnetic Fe adatom spins on semiconductor Cu-N surfaces can be used to store information [S. Loth {\it et al}, Science \textbf{335}, 196 (2012)]. Here, we investigate spin dynamics of such antiferromagnetic systems through Monte Carlo simulations. We find out the temperature and size laws of switching rates of N\'{e}el states and show that the N\'{e}el states can become stable enough for the information storage when the number of spins reaches to one or two dozens of the Fe spins. We also explore promising methods for manipulating the N\'{e}el states. These could help realize information storage with such antiferromagnetic spin systems.