Influence of Magnetic Ordering between Cr Adatoms on the Yu-Shiba-Rusinov States of the β−Bi2Pd Superconductor
Authors: Deung-Jang Choi, Carlos García Fernández, Edwin Herrera, Carmen Rubio-Verdú, Miguel M. Ugeda, Isabel Guillamón, Hermann Suderow, José Ignacio Pascual, and Nicolás Lorente
Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 167001
Abstract: We show that the magnetic ordering of coupled atomic dimers on a superconductor is revealed by their intragap spectral features. Chromium atoms on the superconductor β−Bi2Pd surface display Yu-Shiba-Rusinov bound states, detected as pairs of intragap excitations in tunneling spectra. By means of atomic manipulation with a scanning tunneling microscope’s tip, we form Cr dimers with different arrangements and find that their intragap features appear either shifted or split with respect to single atoms. These spectral variations are associated with the magnetic coupling, ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic, of the dimer, as confirmed by density functional theory simulations. The striking qualitative differences between the observed tunneling spectra prove that intragap Shiba states are extremely sensitive to the magnetic ordering on the atomic scale.