Magnetism of the Fe9 nanocluster supported on Ni(0 0 1)

The morphology and the spin-polarized electronic structure of the Fe9 cluster supported on the (0 0 1) surface of Ni are investigated by combining the Modified Embedded Atom Model (MEAM) with quenched Molecular Dynamics (MD) and a selfconsistent non-collinear spd Tight-Binding (TB) method parameterized to ab-initio Tight-Binding Linear Muffin-Tin Orbital (TB-LMTO) results. Two-dimensional geometry and overall ferromagnetic coupling are found, in keeping with recent experimental findings. The local magnetic moments and Fe–Ni hybridization effects are analyzed in terms of the interfacial relaxation.