Revealing the mechanisms leading to long spin relaxation times and single-atom magnet behavior of Dy atoms embedded in insulating ZnO films

We propose to deepen our knowledge of the magnetic properties of Dy atoms embedded in Zinc oxide, following our discovery of slow paramagnetic relaxation for individual Dy atoms in this system. We will use x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) on 0.5%-Dy doped thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition, with either surface or bulk doping. In this experiment we propose to study the effect of the Dy doping profile, and of the crystallinity and electrical conductivity of the films on the Dy magnetic properties. Our aim is to reveal the mechanisms underlying the stabilization of the out-of-plane magnetic anisotropy leading to the observed single-atom magnet behaviour.