Engineering the magnetic anisotropy of atomic-scale nanostructure under electric field

TL;DR

This paper explores how electric fields can be used to engineer magnetic anisotropy in atomic-scale nanostructures, enabling the design of electrically controllable magnetic devices with tailored properties.

Contribution

It demonstrates the potential to manipulate magnetic anisotropy energy and magnetic response at the atomic scale by analyzing orbital contributions and proposing new nanostructures.

Findings

Atomic orbital contributions to MAE identified

Proposed iron nanostructures exhibit strong magnetoelectric effects

Electric field control of magnetic properties demonstrated

Abstract

Atomic-scale magnetic nanostructures are promising candidates for future information processing devices. Utilizing external electric field to manipulate their magnetic properties is an especially thrilling project. Here, by careful identifying different contributions of each atomic orbital to the magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE) of the ferromagnetic metal films, we argue that it is possible to engineer both the MAE and the magnetic response to the electric field of atomic-scale magnetic nanostructures. Taking the iron monolayer as a matrix, we propose several interesting iron nanostructures with dramatically different magnetic properties. Such nanostructures could exhibit strong magnetoelectric effect. Our work may open a new avenue to the artificial design of electrically controlled magnetic devices.