Comparing XMCD and DFT with STM spin excitation spectroscopy for Fe and Co adatoms on Cu$_{2}$N/Cu(100)

TL;DR

This study compares magnetic properties of Fe and Co adatoms on Cu2N/Cu(100) using XMCD, DFT, and STM SES, highlighting the consistency and differences in magnetic moments and orbital contributions.

Contribution

It provides a detailed comparison of magnetic moments obtained from XMCD, DFT, and STM SES, elucidating the orbital contributions and angular dependence of adatom magnetism.

Findings

XMCD and DFT results agree on large orbital moments.

Angular dependence of magnetic moments matches SES Hamiltonian.

STM SES and XMCD provide complementary insights into adatom magnetism.

Abstract

We report on the magnetic properties of Fe and Co adatoms on a Cu$_{2}$N/Cu(100)-$c(2 \times 2)$ surface investigated by x-ray magnetic dichroism measurements and density functional theory (DFT) calculations including the local coulomb interaction. We compare these results with properties formerly deduced from STM spin excitation spectroscopy (SES) performed on the individual adatoms. In particular we focus on the values of the local magnetic moments determined by XMCD compared to the expectation values derived from the description of the SES data.The angular dependence of the projected magnetic moments along the magnetic field, as measured by XMCD, can be understood on the basis of the SES Hamiltonian. In agreement with DFT, the XMCD measurements show large orbital contributions to the total magnetic moment for both magnetic adatoms.