Electrical Control of Single Atom Magnets (IMAGE)

University College London

Electrical Control of Single Atom Magnets

Caption

When directly on a metal surface, the magnetism (black arrows) of a single cobalt atom (orange circles) is screened by strong interactions with the surrounding metallic sea (blue). By moving these atoms towards the center of an island of thin insulator material (white), we can gradually decrease that strength of that interaction, which results in a remarkable enhancement of the magnetic anisotropy.

Credit

Alfaro Cuevas (<a target="_blank" href="http://alfarocuevas.blogspot.com/">http://alfarocuevas.blogspot.com/</a>).

Usage Restrictions

Creative Commmons Attribution/No-Derivatives licence

License

Licensed content

Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.