2009/01/30 by J. Fernandez-Rossier · 1 citation
Physics and Astronomy · #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.str-el
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.102.256802
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 256802 (2009) · 4 pages, 3 figures
Recent work shows that inelastic electron scanning tunneling microscope (STM) probes the elementary spin excitations of a single and a few magnetic atoms in a thin insulating layer. Here I show that this new type of spectroscopy is described using a phenomenological spin-assisted tunneling Hamiltonian. Within this formalism, the inelastic dI/dV lineshape is related to the spin spectral weight of the probed magnetic atom. This accounts for the spin selection rules observed experimentally. The theory agrees well with existing STM experiments for single Fe and Mn atoms as well as linear chains a few Mn atoms. The magnetic anisotropy in the inelastic dI/dV and the marked odd-even N effects are accounted for by the theory.