No Arabic abstract
We report on a first principles study of anti-ferromagnetic resonance (AFMR) phenomena in metallic systems [MnX (X=Ir,Pt,Pd,Rh) and FeRh] under an external electric field. We demonstrate that the AFMR linewidth can be separated into a relativistic component originating from the angular momentum transfer between the collinear AFM subsystem and the crystal through the spin orbit coupling (SOC), and an exchange component that originates from the spin exchange between the two sublattices. The calculations reveal that the latter component becomes significant in the low temperature regime. Furthermore, we present results for the current-induced intersublattice torque which can be separated into the Field-Like (FL) and Damping-Like (DL) components, affecting the intersublattice exchange coupling and AFMR linewidth, respectively.
A fully quantum mechanical description of the precessional damping of Pt/Co bilayer is presented in the framework of the Keldysh Green function approach using {it ab initio} electronic structure calculations. In contrast to previous calculations of classical Gilbert damping ($alpha_{GD}$), we demonstrate that $alpha_{GD}$ in the quantum case does not diverge in the ballistic regime due to the finite size of the total spin, $S$. In the limit of $Srightarrowinfty$ we show that the formalism recovers the torque correlation expression for $alpha_{GD}$ which we decompose into spin-pumping and spin-orbital torque correlation contributions. The formalism is generalized to take into account a self consistently determined dephasing mechanism which preserves the conservation laws and allows the investigation of the effect of disorder. The dependence of $alpha_{GD}$ on Pt thickness and disorder strength is calculated and the spin diffusion length of Pt and spin mixing conductance of the bilayer are determined and compared with experiments.
We have studied damping in polycrystalline Al nanomechanical resonators by measuring the temperature dependence of their resonance frequency and quality factor over a temperature range of 0.1 - 4 K. Two regimes are clearly distinguished with a crossover temperature of 1 K. Below 1 K we observe a logarithmic temperature dependence of the frequency and linear dependence of damping that cannot be explained by the existing standard models. We attribute these phenomena to the effect of the two-level systems characterized by the unexpectedly long (at least two orders of magnitude longer) relaxation times and discuss possible microscopic models for such systems. We conclude that the dynamics of the two-level systems is dominated by their interaction with one-dimensional phonon modes of the resonators.
We combine ab initio density functional theory with transport calculations to provide a microscopic basis for distinguishing between good and poor metal contacts to nanotubes. Comparing Ti and Pd as examples of different contact metals, we trace back the observed superiority of Pd to the nature of the metal-nanotube hybridization. Based on large scale Landauer transport calculations, we suggest that the `optimum metal-nanotube contact combines a weak hybridization with a large contact length between the metal and the nanotube.
We investigate the adsorption of a single tetracyanoethylene (TCNE) molecule on the silver (001) surface. Adsorption structures, electronic properties, and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images are calculated within density-functional theory. Adsorption occurs most favorably in on-top configuration, with the C=C double bond directly above a silver atom and the four N atoms bound to four neighboring Ag atoms. The lowest unoccupied molecular orbital of TCNE becomes occupied due to electron transfer from the substrate. This state dominates the electronic spectrum and the STM image at moderately negative bias. We discuss and employ a spatial extrapolation technique for the calculation of STM and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) images. Our calculated images are in good agreement with experimental data.
We present a microscopic theory for magnetization relaxation in metallic ferromagnets of nanoscopic dimensions that is based on the dynamic spin response matrix in the presence of spin-orbit coupling. Our approach allows the calculation of the spin excitation damping rate even for perfectly crystalline systems, where existing microscopic approaches fail. We demonstrate that the relaxation properties are not completely determined by the transverse susceptibility alone, and that the damping rate has a non-negligible frequency dependence in experimentally relevant situations. Our results indicate that the standard Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert phenomenology is not always appropriate to describe spin dynamics of metallic nanostructure in the presence of strong spin-orbit coupling.