Appearance of ferromagnetism in Pt(100) ultrathin films originated from quantum-well states

TL;DR

This study demonstrates that ultrathin Pt(100) films exhibit quantum-well-induced ferromagnetism, with magnetic properties strongly dependent on film thickness, revealing a new mechanism for magnetic anisotropy in platinum.

Contribution

It provides experimental evidence linking quantum-well states to ferromagnetism in ultrathin Pt films, a novel insight into their magnetic behavior.

Findings

Ferromagnetism appears in 2.2-4.4 nm thick Pt films.

Magnetic properties oscillate with a period of ~1 nm.

Intrinsic ferromagnetism confirmed by X-ray magnetic circular dichroism.

Abstract

Ferromagnetism was observed in a Pt(100) ultrathin film deposited on a SrTiO3(100) substrate. The ferromagnetism, which appears in films with thicknesses of 2.2-4.4 nm, periodically changes with a period of approximately 1 nm (5-6 monolayers) depending on the film thickness. This is consistent with the period derived from the quantum-well states formed in the thin film. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements show the evidence of appearance of intrinsic ferromagnetism in Pt(100) ultra-thin film. In addition, present results suggest a possibility that the orbital magnetic moment of pure Pt is much smaller than that of the Pt/ferromagnetic multilayer system. These results will provide a potential new mechanism for origin of the large magnetic anisotropy in Pt components.