Magnetic character of holmium atom adsorbed on platinum surface

Abstract

Abstract We address a recent controversy concerning the magnetic state of holmium adatom on platinum surface. Within a combination of the density functional theory (DFT) with the exact diagonalization (ED) of Anderson impurity model, the 〈J z 〉 = 0 paramagnetic ground state |J = 8, J z = ±8〉 is found. In an external magnetic field, this state is transformed to a spin-polarized state with 〈J z 〉 ≈ 6.7. We emphasize the role of 5d–4f interorbital exchange polarization in modification of the 4f shell energy spectrum.