Journal
NATURE COMMUNICATIONS
Volume 9, Issue -, Pages -Publisher
NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-06337-4
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Funding
- Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [KH324/1-1]
- Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO)
- NWO [680-47-534]
- Russian Science Foundation [17-72-20041]
- VILLUM FONDEN via the Center of Excellence for Dirac Materials [11744]
- European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme [751437]
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A magnetic atom epitomizes the scaling limit for magnetic information storage. Individual atomic spins have recently exhibited magnetic remanence, a requirement for magnetic memory. However, such memory has been only realized on thin insulating surfaces, removing potential tunability via electronic gating or exchange-driven magnetic coupling. Here, we show a previously unobserved mechanism for single-atom magnetic storage based on bistability in the orbital population, or so-called valency, of an individual Co atom on semi-conducting black phosphorus (BP). Ab initio calculations reveal that distance-dependent screening from the BP surface stabilizes the two distinct valencies, each with a unique orbital population, total magnetic moment, and spatial charge density. Excellent correspondence between the measured and predicted charge densities reveal that such orbital configurations can be accessed and manipulated without a spin-sensitive readout mechanism. This orbital memory derives stability from the energetic barrier to atomic relaxation, demonstrating the potential for high-temperature single-atom information storage.
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