• Editors' Suggestion

Site- and spin-dependent coupling at the highly ordered h-BN/Co(0001) interface

Dmitry Yu. Usachov, Artem V. Tarasov, Kirill A. Bokai, Viktor O. Shevelev, Oleg Yu. Vilkov, Anatoly E. Petukhov, Artem G. Rybkin, Ilya I. Ogorodnikov, Mikhail V. Kuznetsov, Matthias Muntwiler, Fumihiko Matsui, Lada V. Yashina, Clemens Laubschat, and Denis V. Vyalikh
Phys. Rev. B 98, 195438 – Published 26 November 2018

Abstract

Using photoelectron diffraction and spectroscopy, we explore the structural and electronic properties of the hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) monolayer epitaxially grown on the Co(0001) surface. Perfect matching of the lattice parameters allows formation of a well-defined interface where the B atoms occupy the hollow sites while the N atoms are located above the Co atoms. The corrugation of the h-BN monolayer and its distance from the substrate were determined by means of R-factor analysis. The obtained results are in perfect agreement with the density functional theory (DFT) predictions. The electronic structure of the interface is characterized by a significant mixing of the h-BN and Co states. Such hybridized states appear in the h-BN band gap. This allows to obtain atomically resolved scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images from the formally insulating 2D material being in contact with ferromagnetic metal. The STM images reveal mainly the nitrogen sublattice due to a dominating contribution of nitrogen orbitals to the electronic states at the Fermi level. We believe that the high quality, well-defined structure and interesting electronic properties make the h-BN/Co(0001) interface suitable for spintronic applications.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Received 14 August 2018
  • Revised 15 October 2018

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.98.195438

©2018 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Condensed Matter, Materials & Applied Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Dmitry Yu. Usachov1,*, Artem V. Tarasov1, Kirill A. Bokai1, Viktor O. Shevelev1, Oleg Yu. Vilkov1, Anatoly E. Petukhov1, Artem G. Rybkin1, Ilya I. Ogorodnikov2, Mikhail V. Kuznetsov2, Matthias Muntwiler3, Fumihiko Matsui4, Lada V. Yashina5, Clemens Laubschat6, and Denis V. Vyalikh7,8

  • 1St. Petersburg State University, 7/9 Universitetskaya nab., St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia
  • 2Institute of Solid State Chemistry of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Pervomayskaya Str. 91, 620990 Ekaterinburg, Russia
  • 3Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen, Switzerland
  • 4Institute for Molecular Science, Myodaiji, Okazaki, 444-8585, Japan
  • 5M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University, Leninskie Gory 1/3, 199991 Moscow, Russia
  • 6Institute of Solid State and Materials Physics, Technische Universität Dresden, 01062 Dresden, Germany
  • 7Departamento de Fisica de Materiales and CFM-MPC UPV/EHU, Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC), 20080 San Sebastian, Spain
  • 8IKERBASQUE, Basque Foundation for Science, 48011 Bilbao, Spain

  • *dmitry.usachov@spbu.ru

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 98, Iss. 19 — 15 November 2018

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review B

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×