Giant electron-spin g factors in a ferromagnetic nanoparticle

We utilize single-electron tunneling spectroscopy to measure the discrete energy levels in a nanometer-scale cobalt particle at T = 60 mK, and find effective single-electron spin g factors [approximate] 7.3. These large g factors do not result from the typical orbital contribution to g factors, sinc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review. B, Condensed matter and materials physics Condensed matter and materials physics, 2013-08, Vol.88 (7), Article 075303
Main Authors: Gartland, P., Birk, F. T., Jiang, W., Davidović, D.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Condensed matter
Energy levels
Ferromagnetism
Nanostructure
Orbitals
Particle spin
Signatures
Tunneling
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Summary:We utilize single-electron tunneling spectroscopy to measure the discrete energy levels in a nanometer-scale cobalt particle at T = 60 mK, and find effective single-electron spin g factors [approximate] 7.3. These large g factors do not result from the typical orbital contribution to g factors, since the orbital angular momentum is quenched. Instead, they are due to nontrivial many-body excitations. A kink in the plot of conductance vs voltage and magnetic field is a signature of degenerate total spin on the particle. Spin-orbit interactions cause the new particle eigenstates to have "spin" that is an admixture of pure spin states. Fluctuations in the discrete energy level spacing allow for the total change in "spin" on the particle during a single-electron tunneling event to be Delta S' = 3/2, leading to a g factor of around 6.
ISSN:1098-0121
1550-235X
DOI:10.1103/PhysRevB.88.075303