Real-Space Imaging of Two-Dimensional Antiferromagnetism on the Atomic Scale

A two-dimensional antiferromagnetic structure within a pseudomorphic monolayer film of chemically identical manganese atoms on tungsten(110) was observed with atomic resolution by spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy at 16 kelvin. A magnetic superstructure changes the translational symmetry...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2000-06, Vol.288 (5472), p.1805-1808
Main Authors: Heinze, S., Bode, M., Kubetzka, A., Pietzsch, O., Nie, X., Blügel, S., Wiesendanger, R.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Antiferromagnetism
Applied sciences
Atoms
Atoms & subatomic particles
Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties
Electron states
Electron states and collective excitations in multilayers, quantum wells, mesoscopic, and nanoscale systems
Electron states and collective excitations in thin films, multilayers, quantum wells, mesoscopic and nanoscale systems
Electron tunneling
Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures
Electrons
Energy
Exact sciences and technology
Imaging
Magnetic properties and materials
Magnetic properties of monolayers and thin films
Magnetic properties of surface, thin films and multilayers
Magnetism
Magnetization
Mathematical lattices
Metals. Metallurgy
Methods of electronic structure calculations
Physics
Plane-wave methods (including augmented plane-wave method)
Stripes
Superstructures
Thin films
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Description
Summary:A two-dimensional antiferromagnetic structure within a pseudomorphic monolayer film of chemically identical manganese atoms on tungsten(110) was observed with atomic resolution by spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy at 16 kelvin. A magnetic superstructure changes the translational symmetry of the surface lattice with respect to the chemical unit cell. It is shown, with the aid of first-principles calculations, that as a result of this, spin-polarized tunneling electrons give rise to an image corresponding to the magnetic superstructure and not to the chemical unit cell. These investigations demonstrate a powerful technique for the understanding of complicated magnetic configurations of nanomagnets and thin films engineered from ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic materials used for magnetoelectronics.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.288.5472.1805