Low-energy magnetic states of Tb adatom on graphene

Electronic structure and magnetic interactions of a Tb adatom on graphene are investigated from first principles using combination of density functional theory and multiconfigurational quantum chemistry techniques including spin-orbit coupling (SOC) . We determine that the six-fold symmetry hollow site is the preferred adsorption site and investigate electronic spectrum for different adatom oxidation states including Tb³⁺, Tb²⁺, Tb¹⁺, and Tb⁰. For all charge states, the Tb4f8configuration is retained with other adatom valence electrons being distributed over5dxy,5dx2+y2, and6s/5d0single-electron orbitals. We find strong intra-site adatom exchange coupling that ensures that the5d6sspins are parallel to the4spin. For Tb³⁺, the energy levels can be described by theJ = 6 multiplet split by the graphene crystal field (CF). For other oxidation states, the interaction of4electrons with spin and orbital degrees of freedom of6s5delectrons in the presence of SOC results in the low-energy spectrum composed closely lying effective multiplets that are split by the graphene CF. Stable magnetic moment is predicted for Tb³⁺and Tb²⁺adatoms due to uniaxial magnetic anisotropy and effective anisotropy barrier around 440 cm^-1controlled by the temperature assisted quantum tunneling of magnetization through the third excited doublet. On the other hand, in-plane magnetic anisotropy is found for Tb¹⁺and Tb⁰adatoms. Our results indicate that the occupation of the6s5dorbitals can dramatically affect the magnetic anisotropy and magnetic moment stability of rare earth adatoms.