2014/07/18 by Bernd Zimmermann, Bernd Alois Zimmermann, Marcus Heide +2 · 60 citations
Chemistry · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Chemistry #Crystallography #Cycloid #Hydrogen Storage and Materials #Magnetic Properties and Applications #Magnetic properties of thin films #Materials science #Monolayer #Nanotechnology #Physics #Thermodynamics #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.90.115427
published in Physical Review B 90(11) (American Physical Society)
arxiv created 2014/07/18 · openalex publication_date 2014/09/22 · arxiv updated 2016/01/26 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The magnetic structure of a Cr monolayer on a W(110) substrate is investigated by means of first-principles calculations based on noncollinear spin density functional theory (DFT). As magnetic ground state we find a long-period homochiral left-rotating spin spiral on top of an atomic-scale antiferromagnetic order of nearest-neighbor atoms. The rotation angle of the magnetic moment changes inhomogeneously from atom to atom across the spiral. We predict a propagation direction along the crystallographic [001] direction with a period length of |\ensuremathλ|=14.3\phantom\rule0.16em0exnm, which is in excellent agreement with a modulation of the local antiferromagnetic contrast observed in spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscope experiments by Santos et al. [New J. Phys. 10, 013005 (2008)]. We identify the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction as the origin of the homochiral magnetic structure, competing with the Heisenberg-type exchange interaction and magnetocrystalline anisotropy energy. From DFT calculations we extract parameters for a micromagnetic model and thereby determine a considerable inhomogeneity of the spin spiral, increasing the period length by 6% compared to homogeneous spin spirals. The results are compared to the behavior of a Mn and Fe monolayer and Fe double layer on a W(110) substrate.