Exploring intermixed magnetic nanoparticles: insights from atomistic spin dynamics simulations

Binary nanoparticles, composed of both rare-earth elements with substantial magnetic properties and transition metals known for their high magnetic ordering temperatures, hold great promise as innovative materials for novel magnetic applications. In this study, we employ an atomistic spin dynamics framework to investigate how the magnetic properties change at finite temperatures in mixed NiGd nanoparticles. We specifically examine parameters such as saturation magnetization and spin-reorientation in relation to the nanoparticle's size, which ranges from 4 nm to 16 nm, and composition. Our findings reveal that Ni75Gd25 nanoparticles demonstrate exceptional magnetic properties at finite temperatures, marked by significantly increased saturation magnetizations and magnetic ordering temperatures. In contrast, nanoparticles containing 50% and 75% Gd contents exhibit notably reduced saturation magnetizations and magnetic ordering temperatures. Theoretical findings of our study shed light on the pivotal role that the Gd content plays in determining the magnetic behaviour at finite temperatures.

Chiral Magnetic Interactions in Small Fe Clusters Triggered by Symmetry-Breaking Adatoms

The chirality of the interaction between the local magnetic moments in small transition-metal alloy clusters is investigated in the framework of density-functional theory. The Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya (DM) coupling vectors Dij between the Fe atoms in Fe2X and Fe3X with X = Cu, Pd, Pt, and Ir are derived from independent ground-state energy calculations for different noncollinear orientations of the local magnetic moments. The local-environment dependence of Dij and the resulting relative stability of different chiral magnetic orders are analyzed by contrasting the results for different adatoms X and by systematically varying the distance between the adatom X and the Fe clusters. One observes that the adatoms trigger most significant DM couplings in Fe2X, often in the range of 10–30 meV. Thus, the consequences of breaking the inversion symmetry of the Fe dimer are quantified. Comparison between the symmetric and antisymmetric Fe-Fe couplings shows that the DM couplings are about two orders of magnitude weaker than the isotropic Heisenberg interactions. However, they are in general stronger than the anisotropy of the symmetric couplings. In Fe3X, alloying induces interesting changes in both the direction and strength of the DM couplings, which are the consequence of breaking the reflection symmetry of the Fe trimer and which depend significantly on the adatom-trimer distance. A local analysis of the chirality of the electronic energy shows that the DM interactions are dominated by the spin-orbit coupling at the adatoms and that the contribution of the Fe atoms is small but not negligible.

Size and chemical order dependence of magnetic-ordering temperature and spin structure in Fe@Ni and Ni@Fe core-shell nanoparticles

The effect of particle size and chemical order on the temperature-dependent magnetic properties of Fe@Ni and Ni@Fe core-shell nanoparticles is studied in the framework of a classical spin Hamiltonian and Monte Carlo simulations. We found that the mean temperature-dependent magnetization and magnetic-ordering temperature are strongly affected by both the particle size (in size range of 4 to 16 nm) and core-shell chemical order. As a main result, we report the depression of the magnetic ordering-temperature with decreasing size of the elemental Fe and Ni nanoparticles. More specifically, in the case of Fe and Ni nanoparticles, the magnetic-ordering temperature is lowered by 40 (195 K) to 300 (175 K) compared to the bulk value for nanoparticle diameters ranging from 16 to 4 nm, respectively, consistent with previous theoretical data. We further provide a comprehensive insight into the magnetic properties of Fe@Ni and Ni@Fe nanoparticles, unveiling a rich and distinct magnetic-ordering temperature and spin structure that emphatically depends on the core/shell ratio.

Orbit and spin resolved magnetic properties of size selected [ConRh]⁺ and [ConAu]⁺ nanoalloy clusters

Bi-metallic nanoalloys of mixed 3d-4d or 3d-5d elements are promising candidates for technological applications. The large magnetic moment of the 3d materials in combination with a high spin-orbit coupling of the 4d or 5d materials give rise to a material with a large magnetic moment and a strong magnetic anisotropy, making them ideally suitable in for example magnetic storage devices. Especially for clusters, which already have a higher magnetic moment compared to the bulk, these alloys can profit from the cooperative role of alloying and size reduction in order to obtain magnetically stable materials with a large magnetic moment. Here, the influence of doping of small cobalt clusters on the spin and orbital magnetic moment has been studied for the cations [Co(8-14)Au](+) and [Co(10-14)Rh](+). Compared to the undoped pure cobalt [Co(N)](+) clusters we find a significant increase in the spin moment for specific Co(N-1)Au(+) clusters and a very strong increase in the orbital moment for some Co(N-1)Rh(+) clusters, with more than doubling for Co12Rh(+). This result shows that substitutional doping of a 3d metal with even just one atom of a 4d or 5d metal can lead to dramatic changes in both spin and orbital moment, opening up the route to novel applications.

Finite temperature orbital and spin magnetism of small Fe linear chains

The finite temperature spin and orbital magnetism of N≤ 10 Fe(N) linear chains is theoretically studied in the framework of a spin fluctuation theory based on a realistic d-band model Hamiltonian, which includes the spin-orbit coupling interaction in a non-perturbative way. Spin and orbital magnetic moments are calculated as a function of the temperature by using an exchange Monte Carlo method that takes into account in a full way the short-range magnetic order. The finite temperature anisotropy effects on the spin and orbital cluster moment values are analysed by considering magnetization directions perpendicular to and along the chain axis. The temperature dependence of the orbital cluster moment follows a general trend similar to that of the spin one and shows clear anisotropy effects at low and intermediate temperatures, before total thermal disorder appears. Interesting anisotropy effects driven by thermal spin fluctuations are also observed for the spin results in most of the systems.