Nano-structures with giant magnetocrystalline anisotropy energies (MAE) are desired in designing miniaturized magnetic storage and quantum computing devices. Through ab initio and model calculations, we propose that special p-element dimers and single-adatom on symmetry-matched substrates possess giant atomic MAE of 72-200 meV with room temperature structural stability. The huge MAE originates from degenerate orbitals around Fermi level. More importantly, we developed a simplified quantum mechanical model to understand the principle on how to obtain giant MAE for supported magnetic structures. These discoveries and mechanisms provide a paradigm to design giant atomic MAE in nanostructures.
@article{arxiv.1612.08679,
title = {Giant atomic magnetocrystalline anisotropy from degenerate orbitals around Fermi level},
author = {Rui Pang and Bei Deng and Xingqiang Shi},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1612.08679},
year = {2016}
}