Power laws of magnetization in ferromagnetic monolayers and the two-dimensional Ising model

A two-dimensional multiferroic metal with voltage-tunable magnetization and metallicity

We design a multiferroic metal that combines seemingly incompatible ferromagnetism, ferroelectricity, and metallicity by hole doping a two-dimensional (2D) ferroelectric with high density of states near the Fermi level. The strong magnetoelectric effect is demonstrated in hole-doped and arsenic-doped monolayer α-In₂Se₃ using first-principles calculations. Taking advantage of the oppositely charged surfaces created by an out-of-plane polarization, the 2D magnetization and metallicity can be electrically switched on and off in an asymmetrically doped monolayer. The substitutional arsenic defect pair exhibits an intriguing electric field-tunable charge disproportionation process accompanied by an on-off switch of local magnetic moments. The charge ordering process can be controlled by tuning the relative strength of on-site Coulomb repulsion and defect dipole-polarization coupling via strain engineering. Our design principle relying on no transition metal broadens the materials design space for 2D multiferroic metals.

Oscillatory Indirect Coupling Between Perpendicularly Magnetized Co Monolayers Through Cu (111)

Co-Monolayers, prepared by MBE on Cu (111) -surfaces at room temperature and covered by Cu, are ferromagnetic with a Curie-temperature of about 430 K. They are magnetized perpendicularly because of a strong perpendicular magnetic surface anisotropy of the Cu/Co (111) -interface. They provide a remarkably good representation of the 2-dimensional Ising Model. The indirect coupling between these perpendicularly magnetized ferromagnetic monolayers was investigated using samples of type Cu (111) /lCo/DçuCu/lCo/Cu, containing Co/Cu/Co-trilayers composed of Co-Monolayers and a spacer consisting of DCu atomic layers of Cu (111). Torsion oscillation magnetometry of these samples showed clearly a coupling between the monolayers with an oscillatory dependence on DCu. The amplitude of the oscillation is strongly reduced if the coupled Co-films consist of 5 ML instead of 1 M.L. The present controversy on the presence or absence of antiferromagnetic and oscillatory indirect coupling in the Co/Cu (111) -system is discussed in the light of these experiments. The discussion shows that the oscillatory coupling is an intrinsic property of ideal (111)-structures, and can be understood by the RKKY-type theory of indirect coupling between ferromagnetic Monolayers. The usual application of this theory to the coupling between thicker films is justified. However, in the fcc (111) -system there is apparently a specific barrier against complete coalescence, resulting in a tendency to retain holes and channels in the Cu-spacer. This tendency is stronger in flat single-crystal samples than in sputtered films with high densities of atomic steps. Apparently, this results in competing ferromagnetic hole coupling which may more or less completely obscure the intrinsic oscillatory coupling, preferentially in samples grown on extremely flat single crystal surfaces.

Universal window for two-dimensional critical exponents

Two-dimensional condensed matter is realized in increasingly diverse forms that are accessible to experiment and of potential technological value. The properties of these systems are influenced by many length scales and reflect both generic physics and chemical detail. To unify their physical description is therefore a complex and important challenge. Here we investigate the distribution of experimentally estimated critical exponents, β, that characterize the evolution of the order parameter through the ordering transition. The distribution is found to be bimodal and bounded within a window ∼0.1≤β≤0.25, facts that are only in partial agreement with the established theory of critical phenomena. In particular, the bounded nature of the distribution is impossible to reconcile with the existing theory for one of the major universality classes of two-dimensional behaviour-the XY model with four-fold crystal field-which predicts a spectrum of non-universal exponents bounded only from below. Through a combination of numerical and renormalization group arguments we resolve the contradiction between theory and experiment and demonstrate how the 'universal window' for critical exponents observed in experiment arises from a competition between marginal operators.

Optimization of magneto-optical Kerr setup: analyzing experimental assemblies using Jones matrix formalism

We present a comparative study on an experimental and theoretical optimization of magneto-optical Kerr setups based on photoelastic modulation and phase sensitive detector methodology. The first and second harmonics, I omega,2 omega, of the reflected light intensity are measured for a CoO/Co magnetic reference film. The magnetic field dependence of the optical off-diagonal Fresnel reflection coefficients rps and rsp follows the sample magnetization. Different Kerr setups provide various dependencies of I omega,2 omega on the reflection coefficients and, hence, on the Kerr ellipticity epsilon K and rotation theta K. Jones matrix formalism has been used to analyze the impact of a systematic variation of relative analyzer and polarizer orientations with respect to each other and with respect to the retardation axis of the modulator involved in longitudinal Kerr setups for incoming s-polarized light. We find one particular setup which maximizes I(omega) as well as I2 omega and maximizes the signal-to-noise ratio. Inefficient setups are characterized by I omega,2 omega intensities involving large nonmagnetic contributions of rp and rs.