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research article
Magnetic remanence in single atoms
2016
A permanent magnet retains a substantial fraction of its saturation magnetization in the absence of an external magnetic field. Realizing magnetic remanence in a single atom allows for storing and processing information in the smallest unit of matter. We show that individual holmium (Ho) atoms adsorbed on ultrathin MgO(100) layers on Ag(100) exhibit magnetic remanence up to a temperature of 30 kelvin and a relaxation time of 1500 seconds at 10 kelvin. This extraordinary stability is achieved by the realization of a symmetry-protected magnetic ground state and by decoupling the Ho spin from the underlying metal by a tunnel barrier.
Type
research article
Web of Science ID
WOS:000373990100034
Authors
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Stepanow, S.
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Persichetti, L.
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Publication date
2016
Published in
Volume
352
Issue
6283
Start page
318
End page
321
Peer reviewed
REVIEWED
EPFL units
Available on Infoscience
July 19, 2016
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