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Summary of Lecture 13

Interlayer exchange coupling (IEC)

Quantum-well model for IEC


Quantum well
• Transmission and reflection amplitudes, multiple reflection
• Two configurations (P and AP)
• Spin-polarized quantum well states

Exchange coupling
• Bilinear
• Energy difference
• Critical nesting vectors (Fermi surface; free electrons, Cu(001))
• Coupling strength

Measurements
• Thickness fluctuations
• Magnetization fluctuations (→ biquadratic coupling)
Summary of Lecture 13
Magnetocrystalline anisotropy

Magnetic force theorem


• DFT+LSDA calculations without SOC
• SOC treated as perturbation
• Band energy differences
• Bulk: μeV/atom
• Surface: meV/atom

Summary: Shape anisotropy


• Magnetostatic energy
• Dipole-dipole interaction
• Depends on the shape of the sample
• For thin films and surfaces: favours in-plane anisotropy
Magnetocrystalline anisotropy
Interpretation of the thin-film MAE – a superposition principle
Question: What are the effects of the interfaces?

Dyson equation for the film Green function


Spin

Bulk GF Perturbations

Series expansion

Multiple scattering
Neglect!

`Left‘ perturbation `Right‘


perturbation
Magnetocrystalline anisotropy
Interpretation of the thin-film MAE – a superposition principle
Neglect!

Magnetic profile

Layer-resolved magnetic
moments

Neglects finite-size effects


Important for very thin films

Superposition principle for the band energy


Magnetocrystalline anisotropy
Interpretation of the thin-film MAE – a superposition principle
Superposition principle for the band energy
SOC as perturbation

SOC

Band energy profile


Magnetocrystalline anisotropy
Summary: Superposition principle
• Dyson equation for the film Green function
• Neglect of multiple-scattering contributions
• Finite-size effects neglected
• Quantum-well states not accounted for
• Profiles decomposed into
• Surface part
• Interface part
• Bulk part
• Unambigous interpretation
• Magnetic profiles
• Band energy profiles
Magnetocrystalline anisotropy
Summary so far...
Magnetocrystalline anisotropy
• Alignment of the magnetization aling crystallographic axes

Effect of spin-orbit coupling on the band structure

Anisotropy constants

Magnetic force theorem


• Compute the anisotropy energy within DFT + LSDA

Shape anisotropy
• Dipole-dipole interaction of local magnetic moments

Superposition principle
• Interpretation of the magnetization and band-energy profiles
Magnetocrystalline anisotropy
Ni/Cu(001)
Experiment Cu/Ni/Cu(001)
XPEEM In-plane
Magnetic dichroism

Perpendicular

In-plane
Wedge-shaped Ni film

Spin reorientation transitions


(SRT) @ 10 ML and 19 ML
Origin:
Tetragonal distortion in the
Ni film
Magnetocrystalline anisotropy
Ni/Cu(001)
Band energy profiles

Solid: Film calculation

Ni film thickness
Dashed: Superposition

• Oscillations
• Superposition
• QW effects (thin films)
Magnetocrystalline anisotropy
Ni/Cu(001)
Spin reorientation transition

Out-of-plane

SRT
In-plane
Magnetocrystalline anisotropy
Ni/Cu(001)
Anisotropy constants
Angular dependence of the free energy
Magnetocrystalline anisotropy
Summary: Ni/Cu(001)
• Band energy profiles
• Superposition principle
• Effect of the tetragonal distortion in the Ni film
• Spin reorientation transition in agreement with experiments
• Anisotropy constants
Solid state magnetism
Origin of the magnetism in transition metals?

• Atomic magnetism: Hund‘s rules


• Landau diamagnetism
• Pauli paramagnetism
• Itinerant ferromagnetism
• Magnetism in thin films
Solid state magnetism
Atomic magnetism: Hund‘s rules
1. Full shells and subshells do not contribute to total S, the total spin angular
momentum and L, the total orbital angular momentum quantum numbers.

2. The term with maximum multiplicity (maximum S) has the lowest energy
level.

3. For a given multiplicity, the term with the largest value of L has the lowest
energy.

4. For atoms with less than half-filled shells, the level with the lowest value
of J lies lowest in energy. Otherwise, if the outermost shell is more than
half-filled the term with highest value of J is the one with the lowest
energy.
Solid state magnetism
Hund‘s rules applied to Fe

1. rule: s-shell does not contribute

2. rule: S maximum

3. rule: minimizes SOC


Solid state magnetism
Hund‘s rules applied to transition metals
Solid state magnetism
Landau diamagnetism Graphite (diamagnet) Nd magnets

Diamagnetism Paramagnetism
(neglect)

Ansatz

Cyclotron frequency
Solid state magnetism
Landau diamagnetism

Harmonic oscillator

Landau tubes
Solid state magnetism
Landau diamagnetism

Degeneracy

B = 0:

Area between two levels:

Degeneracy
Solid state magnetism
Landau diamagnetism
Susceptibility

Occupation of the highest block:

Energy of the highest block


Solid state magnetism
Landau diamagnetism
Susceptibility

Energy difference

Including spin degeneracy and number of states in kz

Susceptibility

Diamagnetic elements: Cu, Ag, Bi,


Solid state magnetism
Pauli paramagnetism

Diamagnetism Paramagnetism
(neglect)

Energy shift

Spin-resolved DOS
Solid state magnetism
Pauli paramagnetism

Magnetization

Susceptibility

Landau vs. Pauli susceptibility

Total susceptibility including effective mass


Solid state magnetism
Band ferromagnetism
Stoner criterion – energetic preference of ferromagnetism

Electrons move in a mean field of strength λ


Pauli paramagnetism → magnetization
Positive feedback
Kinetic energy (cost)

Density of states

Magnetization
Free energy
Potential energy (gain)

with (Stoner exchange integral)


Solid state magnetism
Band ferromagnetism
Stoner criterion – energetic preference of ferromagnetism

Total energy balance

Spontaneous magnetism if
→ Stoner criterion
Solid state magnetism
Band ferromagnetism
Stoner amplification in paramagnets
Paramagnetism

Increased Pauli susceptibility

Important for Pt and Pd (`close to being ferromagnetic‘)


Can one make Pd magnetic?
Solid state magnetism
Quantum-well induced ferromagnetism in thin Pd films
Increase Constant
magnetic

Idea: thin Pd films on a Ag(001)


substrate
nonmagnetic

→ ferromagnetism for N = 3, 4, 8, 9, ...

Pd film thickness
Solid state magnetism
Quantum-well induced ferromagnetism in thin Pd films
→ ferromagnetism for N = 3, 4, 8, 9, ...

Magnetization profiles
Solid state magnetism
Quantum-well induced ferromagnetism in thin Pd films
Band structures

Not confined

Confined
Quantum well states
Solid state magnetism
Quantum-well induced ferromagnetism in thin Pd films
Quantum well states
Ferromagnetism for N = 3, 4, 8, 9, ...
Spin-split QWS

→ paramagnetic QWS closer than


0.1 eV to the Fermi level
Solid state magnetism
Summary
Atomic magnetism: Hund‘s rules
• Application to Fe, transition metals

Landau diamagnetism
• Free-electron Hamiltonian
• Landau tubes
• Susceptibility

Pauli paramagnetism
• Energy shift by an external magnetic field
• Susceptibility

Itinerant ferromagnetism (band ferromagnetism)


• Energy gain → magnetic ground state
• Stoner criterion
• Stoner amplification of the Pauli susceptibility

Magnetism in thin films induced by quantum well states (Stoner criterion)

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