Magnetic properties of FeCo nanoclusters on Cu(100)

TL;DR

This study uses ab-initio calculations to analyze the magnetic moments and anisotropy energies of small FeCo clusters on Cu(100), revealing how cluster size, composition, and atomic arrangement influence magnetic properties.

Contribution

It provides a detailed computational analysis of magnetic properties of FeCo nanoclusters with various configurations on Cu(100), highlighting the effects of composition and geometry.

Findings

MAE varies with Co concentration similarly to monolayers for 2x2 and 3x3 clusters.

Pentamer clusters exhibit different MAE behavior compared to smaller clusters.

Significant angular dependence of MAE observed for in-plane easy axis clusters.

Abstract

We present ab-initio calculations of the magnetic moments and magnetic anisotropy energies of small FeCo clusters of varying composition on top of a Cu(100) substrate. Three different cluster layouts have been considered, namely 2x2, 3x3 and cross-like pentamer clusters. The ratio of Co atoms with respect to the total number in a chosen cluster (``concentration'') was varied and all possible arrangements of the atomic species were taken into account. Calculations have been performed fully relativistically using the embedded cluster technique in conjunction with the screened Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method and the magnetocrysergy depend on the position they occupy in a particular cluster and on the type and the number of nearest-neighbors. The MAE for the 2x2 and 3x3 clusters varies with respect to the ``concentration'' of Co atoms in the same manner as the corresponding monolayer case, whereas the pentamer clusters show a slightly different behavior. Furthermore, for the clusters with an easy axis along a direction in the surface plane, the MAE shows a significant angular dependence.