Magnetic orderings in Al nanowires suspended between electrodes

TL;DR

This study uses first-principles simulations to explore magnetic orderings in aluminum nanowires between electrodes, revealing size-dependent magnetic behaviors including ferromagnetism and antiferromagnetism.

Contribution

It demonstrates the complex relationship between atomic structure and magnetic ordering in aluminum nanowires, highlighting size-dependent magnetic phenomena.

Findings

3-atom nanowire is non-magnetic

5-atom nanowire exhibits ferromagnetism

8-atom nanowire shows antiferromagnetic trimers

Abstract

A theoretical analysis of a relation between atomic and spin-electronic structures for the ground state of single-row aluminum nanowires suspended between Al(001) electrodes is demonstrated using first-principles molecular-dynamics simulations. We obtain a unusual result that a 3-aluminum-atom nanowire sandwiched between the electrodes does not manifest magnetic ordering although an isolated aluminum trimer molecule in a straight line is spin-polarized. On the other hand, a 5-atom nanowire exhibits ferromagnetic ordering, where three central atoms form a spin-polarized trimer. Moreover, in the case of an 8-atom nanowire, the middle atoms in the nanowire form two spin-polarized trimers with antiferromagnetic ordering.