ABSTRACT
We investigate the spin relaxation of Ho single atom magnets on MgO/Ag(100) as a function of temperature and magnetic field. We find that the spin relaxation is thermally activated at low field, while it remains larger than 1000 s up to 30 K and 8 T. This behavior contrasts with that of single molecule magnets and bulk paramagnetic impurities, which relax faster at high field. Combining our results with density functional theory, we rationalize this unconventional behavior by showing that local vibrations activate a two-phonon Raman process with a relaxation rate that peaks near zero field and is suppressed at high field. Our work shows the importance of these excitations in the relaxation of axially coordinated magnetic atoms.
ABSTRACT
We describe a mechanism by which nonlinear phononics allows ultrafast coherent and directional control of transient structural distortions. With ErFeO_{3} as a model system, we use density functional theory to calculate the structural properties as input into an anharmonic phonon model that describes the response of the system to a pulsed optical excitation. We find that the trilinear coupling of two orthogonal infrared-active phonons to a Raman-active phonon causes a transient distortion of the lattice. In contrast to the quadratic-linear coupling that has been previously explored, the direction of the distortion is determined by the polarization of the exciting light, introducing a novel mechanism for nonlinear phononic switching. Since the occurrence of the coupling is determined by the symmetry of the system we propose that it is a universal feature of orthorhombic and tetragonal perovskites.
