Observation of ferromagnetic surface of paramagnetic YCo2

Abstract

Here we present results on the experimental observation of intrinsic surface magnetism of the bulk paramagnetic material YCo2. As predicted by theory, the observed magnetism of the low-index crystallographic (111) plane of YCo2 is explained by the increasing of density of electronic states at the Fermi level due to the reduced atomic coordination at the surface. Since this magnetic order exists at room temperature, YCo 2 shows great potential for an application in magnetic nanotechnology. © 2008 IOP Publishing Ltd.