Magnetic character of holmium atom adsorbed on platinum surface

Abstract

We address a recent controversy concerning the magnetic state of holmium adatom on platinum surface. Within a combination of the density functional theory (DFT) with the exact diagonalization (ED) of Anderson impurity model, the (J z) = 0 paramagnetic ground state J = 8, J z = ±8) is found. In an external magnetic field, this state is transformed to a spin-polarized state with (J z) ≈ 6.7. We emphasize the role of 5d-4f interorbital exchange polarization in modification of the 4f shell energy spectrum.