Search

Coherently projecting a quantum state may allow it to be probed from a distance. This is now demonstrated for a Yu–Shiba–Rusinov state using a quantum corral.

This combined experimental and theoretical study of a collinear antiferromagnet reveals a large magnetic exchange driven structural shift and non-coplanar domain wall junctions, which exhibit a topological orbital magnetization.

Controlling the behaviour of single molecules on electrode interfaces is crucial for the development of molecular spintronics. This study reports spin-polarized scanning tunnelling microscopy data of the spin-split molecular orbitals of a single-molecule magnet adsorbed on a cobalt surface.

Topologically trivial and Majorana bound states can show spectral weight near the ends of a chain of magnetic atoms on a superconductor. Here, the authors disentangle the two contributions by augmenting a spin chain with orbitally-compatible nonmagnetic atoms, where a persistent zero-energy spectral weight at the transition between the two parts is observed.

Small clusters of magnetic atoms can behave in very different ways to those same atoms in bulk. Arranging iron atoms one by one into complex but well-defined patterns on a copper surface enables the construction of nanoscale magnetic structures with tailored characteristics.

Skyrmions are topologically protected field configurations that appear as solutions of continuous quantum-field theories. Recently, they have been observed in magnetic bulk alloys, where a lattice of skyrmions is stabilized by an external magnetic field. In contrast, this study finds evidence for a skyrmion lattice as a spontaneous ground state, encoded into a magnetic spin texture on the atomic scale.

The observation of magnetic skyrmions at room temperature that can be driven by short current pulses at speeds exceeding 100 m s⁻¹ raises great expectations for skyrmion-based racetrack memories.

Atom diffusion on surfaces is a fundamental process, which is widely believed to be independent of magnetic interactions. Here, the authors demonstrate that the symmetry of the magnetic state restricts adatom movement to one dimension.

Arranging magnetic impurities in a conventional superconductor may give rise to Majorana bound states and their manipulation. Here, the authors report focusing and long-range extension of magnetic bound states from magnetic impurities embedded below a superconducting La(0001) surface.

The Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida interaction indirectly couples the moments of magnetic atoms through conduction electrons. Using a spin-polarized scanning tunnelling microscope, the direction and strength of this interaction between pairs and triplets of isolated atoms on a surface has been imaged directly.

Isolated magnetic atoms doped into a semiconductor represent an interesting system for spintronics applications and a possible means of constructing quantum bits. So far, however, it has not been possible to study the correlation between the local atomic structure and the dopant's magnetic properties. Here, sensitive scanning probe techniques have been developed that allow the spin excitations of individual magnetic dopants within a two-dimensional semiconductor system to be measured.

Researchers have measured the mechanical response of individual metallofullerene molecules confined inside a carbon nanotube to the tip of an atomic force microscope with atomic resolution. Highly elastic — that is, almost frictionless — behaviour was observed under certain conditions

Individual skyrmions in a PdFe atomic bilayer on Ir can be detected by all-electrical means using a non-spin-polarized scanning tunnelling microscope tip.

The electric field generated by the tip of a scanning tunnelling microscope can be exploited to locally and reversibly switch between a ferromagnetic state and a skyrmion.

The spin direction of a single cobalt atom can be determined and manipulated using a scanning tunnelling microscope.

Spin chains on superconductors have been studied as a possible venue for zero-energy Majorana bound states at the ends of the chain. Here, the authors observe localized end states in antiferromagnetic chains, but rule out a Majorana origin of these states by perturbing them with local defects.

Proximity-induced superconductivity on a single spin-degenerate quantum level of a surface state confined in a quantum corral on a superconducting substrate built atom by atom by a scanning tunnelling microscope is investigated.

Strategies to tune the surface properties of topological insulators are essential, if they are to find use in applications. Using a combination of theoretical and experimental techniques, this study examines how the properties of ordered ternary topological insulators vary with the content of group IV elements.

Knowledge of the spin structure in parent compounds of unconventional superconductors is crucial for an understanding of the complex physics in these materials. Here, the authors report canted spin structure on the surface as well as on the thin film form of Fe_1+yTe, different from the bulk.

Multi-Q states are 2D typically non-collinear spin textures that can be stabilized at the nanoscale and at zero magnetic field by interactions between multiple spins. Gutzeit et al. uncover a variety of multi-Q states in Fe/Rh atomic bilayers on the Ir(111) surface, including unexpected 2D collinear states.

Magnet/superconductor hybrids have been explored for the realization of topological superconductivity but have mainly focused on ferromagnets with full gaps. Here, the authors find that the antiferromagnet/superconductor heterostructure of monolayer Mn on a Nb(110) surface is a topological nodal-point superconductor.

Antiferromagnets (AFM) exhibit faster magnetization dynamics, and have immunity to stray fields, making AFMs attractive for spintronic devices. Here, the authors investigate the behaviour of domain walls in AFMs, and find a new type domain wall, a superposition of two adjacent rotational domains.

The influence of spin-orbit coupling on the hybridization of Shiba states in dimers of magnetic atoms on superconducting surfaces remains unexplored. Here, the authors reveal a splitting of atomic Shiba orbitals due to spin-orbit coupling and broken inversion symmetry in antiferromagnetically coupled Mn dimers placed on a Nb(110) surface.

Chains of magnetic atoms on the surface of a superconductor are shown to have topologically non-trivial bands that could host Majorana bound states.

Majorana modes are highly non-local quantum states with non-Abelian exchange statistics, which localize at the two ends of finite-size 1D topological superconductors of sufficient length. By precisely positioning magnetic atoms on a superconducting surface, their interaction is tailored such that the precursors of Majorana modes are simultaneously observed on both ends of linear atomic chains.

Scanning tunnelling microscopes can be used to accurately position atoms and measure emergent behaviour arising from interatomic couplings. Here, the authors fabricate a model spin chain and show the formation of a tunable spiral state due to competing Heisenberg and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions

Stabilization of skyrmions is one of the key issues in skyrmion-based spintronics. Here the authors demonstrate that hydrogenation can induce the formation of skyrmions in iron thin films, which provides an alternative way to tailor skyrmion states in low-dimensional magnetic materials.

Isolated skyrmions with diameters below 10 nm stabilized at zero magnetic field are of great technological relevance to the future spintronic applications. Here the authors report stabilization of zero field isolated skyrmions with diameters smaller than 5 nm in Rh/Co atomic bilayers on the Ir(111) surface.

Exploration of the atomic spin interactions promises next generation information technologies. Here the authors show the observation and understanding of the Dzyaloshinskii−Moriya and symmetric anisotropic exchange interactions controlled spin dynamics and stability in Fe cluster-adatom complexes on Pt surfaces.

Carbon nanosystems on an iron monolayer create organic–metal hybrids with tunable magnetic properties that can be magnetically coupled to each other over nanometre distances.

Magnetic skyrmions are quasiparticles that hold promise for future spintronic devices. In this Review, the detection, creation, manipulation and deletion of individual skyrmions in ultrathin films and in multilayers are surveyed, and their control by currents and external fields is discussed.

Majorana bound states have possible application in future quantum computing devices but designing platforms where their signatures can be isolated and observed is challenging. Here, the authors report experimental and calculated data for the screening of proximitized superconducting and strongly spin-orbit-coupled heavy metal layers with atom-by-atom assembled chains of transition metal atoms with the aim of realizing large topological minigaps protecting Majorana edge modes.

When skyrmions are travelling along a given path their motion is impaired by the skyrmion Hall effect which causes them to veer towards the edges of their track rather than to continue in a linear direction. To help counteract this issue, the authors investigate skyrmion edge interactions demonstrating that a ferromagnetic Co/Fe rim adjacent to the Pd/Fe bilayer on Ir(111) can prevent skyrmion annihilation at the film edge and also stabilizes zero-field skyrmions.

The anticipated role of skyrmions as information carriers in spintronic devices has, so far, been hampered by difficulties in controlling their motion. Here, the authors use micromagnetic simulations to investigate the temperature-dependent motion of skyrmions, revealing that their magnetic texture reacts on two different time scales.