{
  "id": "1203.6238",
  "version": "v1",
  "published": "2012-03-28T11:47:24.000Z",
  "updated": "2012-03-28T11:47:24.000Z",
  "title": "Bias asymmetry in the conductance profile of magnetic ions on surfaces probed by scanning tunneling microscopy",
  "authors": [
    "Aaron Hurley",
    "Nadjib Baadji",
    "Stefano Sanvito"
  ],
  "doi": "10.1103/PhysRevB.86.125411",
  "categories": [
    "cond-mat.mes-hall"
  ],
  "abstract": "The conductance profiles of magnetic transition metal atoms, such as Fe, Co and Mn, deposited on surfaces and probed by a scanning tunneling microscope (STM), provide detailed information on the magnetic excitations of such nano-magnets. In general the profiles are symmetric with respect to the applied bias. However a set of recent experiments has shown evidence for inherent asymmetries when either a normal or a spin-polarized STM tip is used. In order to explain such asymmetries here we expand our previously developed perturbative approach to electron-spin scattering to the spin- polarized case and to the inclusion of out of equilibrium spin populations. In the case of a magnetic STM tip we demonstrate that the asymmetries are driven by the non-equilibrium occupation of the various atomic spin-levels, an effect that reminds closely that electron spin-transfer. In contrast when the tip is not spin-polarized such non-equilibrium population cannot be build up. In this circumstance we propose that the asymmetry simply originates from the transition metal ion density of state, which is included here as a non-vanishing real component to the spin-scattering self-energy.",
  "revisions": [
    {
      "version": "v1",
      "updated": "2012-03-28T11:47:24.000Z"
    }
  ],
  "analyses": {
    "subjects": [
      "72.15.Qm",
      "71.10.-w",
      "73.40.Gk"
    ],
    "keywords": [
      "scanning tunneling microscopy",
      "magnetic ions",
      "bias asymmetry",
      "conductance profile"
    ],
    "tags": [
      "journal article"
    ],
    "publication": {
      "publisher": "APS",
      "journal": "Physical Review B",
      "year": 2012,
      "month": "Sep",
      "volume": 86,
      "number": 12,
      "pages": 125411
    },
    "note": {
      "typesetting": "TeX",
      "pages": 0,
      "language": "en",
      "license": "arXiv",
      "status": "editable",
      "adsabs": "2012PhRvB..86l5411H"
    }
  }
}