Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Study of Square Manganese Tetramers on Mn3N2 (001)

TL;DR

This study uses scanning tunneling microscopy to analyze the surface structure of Mn3N2(001) grown on MgO, revealing a novel square Mn tetramer reconstruction with two rotated domains.

Contribution

It presents the first observation and model of square Mn tetramer reconstruction on Mn3N2(001) surfaces, expanding understanding of surface structures in antiferromagnetic materials.

Findings

Identification of a unique c(4x2) Mn tetramer reconstruction

Observation of two rotated domain orientations

Proposed structural model for the tetramer arrangement

Abstract

We have investigated the growth of antiferromagnetic Mn3N2(001) on MgO (001) by molecular beam epitaxy and scanning tunneling microscopy . The images show smooth terraces and atomic steps. On some of the terraces a unique and new reconstruction is seen, resolved as square Mn tetramers in a c(4x2) structural arrangement. Two domains of the tetramer reconstruction, rotated by 90$^\circ$ to each other, occur. A model is presented for this square Mn tetramer reconstruction, in which the Mn atoms of the tetramer layer belong to the Mn layer at the surface in the MnN-MnN-Mn stacking sequence.