Magnetism in Atomic-Size Palladium Contacts and Nanowires

ANNA DELIN; E. TOSATTI; RUBEN WEHT

PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS

AMER PHYSICAL SOC

Año: 2004 vol. 92 p. 72011 - 72014

0031-9007

We have investigated Pd nanowires theoretically, and found that, unlike either metallic or free atomic Pd, they exhibit Hund’s rule magnetism. In long, monostrand nanowires, we find a spin moment of 0.7 mB  per atom, whereas for short, monostrand nanowires between bulk leads, the predicted moment is about 0.3 mB  per nanowire atom. In contrast, a coaxial (6,1) nanowire was found to be nonmagnetic. The origin of the nanowire magnetism is analyzed.