Hysteretic behaviour in a vacuum deposited submonolayer of single ion magnets

Abstract

With element-specific X-ray absorption spectroscopy and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism we have investigated submonolayer coverages of TbPc₂ and DyPc₂ molecules sublimated on highly ordered pyrolytic graphite. We have studied the field dependence of the magnetization of the central lanthanide ion at very low temperatures. Even in zero applied magnetic field we still observe a remanence in the magnetization. Since there are neither intermolecular coupling nor magnetic interactions with the substrate, this remanent behaviour results just from single-ion anisotropy. On the very inert surface of graphite at temperatures between 0.5 K and 2 K the spin relaxation is slow enough to observe a memory effect in the timescale of the experimental measurements.