We show within a local self-consistent mean-field treatment that a random distribution of magnetic adatoms can open a robust gap in the electronic spectrum of graphene. The electronic gap results from the interplay between the nature of the graphene
sublattice structure and the exchange interaction between adatoms.The size of the gap depends on the strength of the exchange interaction between carriers and localized spins and can be controlled by both temperature and external magnetic field. Furthermore, we show that an external magnetic field creates an imbalance of spin-up and spin-down carriers at the Fermi level, making doped graphene suitable for spin injection and other spintronic applications.
We study the controlled introduction of defects in GaMnAs by irradiating the samples with energetic ion beams, which modify the magnetic properties of the DMS. Our study focuses on the low-carrier-density regime, starting with as-grown GaMnAs films a
nd decreasing even further the number of carriers, through a sequence of irradiation doses. We did a systematic study of magnetization as a function of temperature and of the irradiation ion dose. We also performed in-situ room temperature resistivity measurements as a function of the ion dose. We observe that both magnetic and transport properties of the samples can be experimentally manipulated by controlling the ion-beam parameters. For highly irradiated samples, the magnetic measurements indicate the formation of magnetic clusters together with a transition to an insulating state. The experimental data are compared with mean-field calculations for magnetization. The independent control of disorder and carrier density in the calculations allows further insight on the individual role of this two factors in the ion-beam-induced modification of GaMnAs.
A hybrid system which consists of a superconducting (SC) Pb film (100 nm thickness) containing $sim$1 vol% single domain ferromagnetic (FM) Co particles of mean-size $sim$4.5 nm reveal unusual magnetic properties: (i) a controlled switching between t
he usual diamagnetic and the unusual paramagnetic Meissner effect in field cooling as well as in zero-field cooling experiments (ii) amplification of the positive magnetization when the sample enters the SC state below T$_c$. These experimental findings can be explained by the formation of spontaneous vortices and the possible alignment of these vortices due to the foregoing alignment of the Co particle FM moments by an external magnetic field.
The interplay between superconductivity and magnetism gives rise to many intriguing and exciting phenomena. In this Letter we report about a novel manifestation of this interplay: a temperature induced phase transition between different spontaneous v
ortex phases in lead superconducting films with embedded magnetic nanoparticles. Unlike common vortices in superconductors the vortex phase appears without any applied magnetic field. The vortices nucleate exclusively due to the stray field of the magnetic nanoparticles, which serve the dual role of providing the internal field and simultaneously acting as pinning centers. As in usual superconductors, one can move the spontaneous vortices with an applied electric current. Transport measurements reveal dynamical phase transitions that depend on temperature (T) and applied field (H) and support the obtained (H-T) phase diagram. In particular, we used a scaling analysis to characterize a transition from a liquid to a novel disordered solid resembling a vortex glass.
We investigate the effect of the magnetic anisotropy ($K_z$) on the static and dynamic properties of magnetic vortices in small disks. Our micromagnetic calculations reveal that for a range of $K_z$ there is an enlargement of the vortex core. We anal
yze the influence of $K_z$ on the dynamics of the vortex core magnetization reversal under the excitation of a pulsed field. The presence of $K_z$, which leads to better resolved vortex structures, allows us to discuss in more details the role played by the in-plane and perpendicular components of the gyrotropic field during the vortex-antivortex nucleation and annihilation.
