It is observed that the magnetoconductance of bilayer films of copper (Cu) and copper monoxide (CuO) has distinct features compared of that of Cu films on conventional band insulator substrates. We analyze the data above 2 K by the theory of weak antilocalization in two-dimensional metals and suggest that spin-flip scatterings by magnetic impurities inside Cu are suppressed in Cu/CuO samples. Plausibly the results imply a proximity effect of antiferromagnetism inside the Cu layer, which can be understood in the framework of Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yoshida (RKKY) interactions. The data below 1 K, which exhibit slow relaxation reminiscent of spin glass, are consistent with this interpretation.
@article{arxiv.1104.0079,
title = {Quenching of Impurity Spins at Cu/CuO Interfaces: An Antiferromagnetic Proximity Effect},
author = {Ko Munakata and Theodore H. Geballe and Malcolm R. Beasley},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1104.0079},
year = {2015}
}
Comments
6 pages, 4 figures, 2 tables. Added a supplementary material