TY  - JOUR
AU  - Karanje, Renuka
AU  - Bera, Anupam
AU  - Rudra, Sourav
AU  - Mukhopadhyay, Debmalya
AU  - Banerjee, Souvik
AU  - Bansal, Manisha
AU  - Baraik, Kiran
AU  - Chowdhury, Sourav
AU  - Li, Weibin
AU  - Valvidares, Manuel
AU  - Maity, Tuhin
AU  - Saha, Bivas
TI  - Orbital Angular Momentum-Driven Ferromagnetism with Magnetic Anisotropy and Electronic Structure of Epitaxial Neodymium Nitride
JO  - ACS nano
VL  - 19
IS  - 41
SN  - 1936-0851
CY  - Washington, DC
PB  - Soc.
M1  - PUBDB-2026-00282
SP  - 36636 - 36645
PY  - 2025
N1  - Waiting for fulltext 
AB  - Neodymium-based permanent magnets are fundamental to modern technologies, underpinning high-performance applications in electronics, renewable energy, and advanced medical systems. Among emerging neodymium compounds, neodymium nitride (NdN) has attracted significant attention due to its unique electronic structure, where strongly localized 4f orbitals and strong spin–orbit coupling are anticipated to drive exceptional magnetic behavior. Here, we show conclusive experimental evidence of orbital angular momentum-driven ferromagnetic ordering and prominent magnetic anisotropy in epitaxial, near-stoichiometric NdN thin films synthesized using ultrahigh vacuum deposition techniques. Magnetization and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements reveal a dominant 4f orbital moment of 5.14 μB, contributing to a total magnetic moment of 2.43 μB per formula unit at 4 K, close to the first-principles density functional theory calculated values. Complementary synchrotron-radiation photoelectron spectroscopy, along with the theoretical calculations, uncovers occupied 4f states ∼6.4 eV below the Fermi level, contributing to the orbital-driven ferromagnetism in NdN. Moreover, the high crystalline quality of the NdN films is further supported by the structural characterization and vibrational properties. The intrinsic orbital angular momentum-driven magnetism of NdN positions it as a promising platform for next-generation orbitronic devices beyond conventional spintronics.
LB  - PUB:(DE-HGF)16
DO  - DOI:10.1021/acsnano.5c11890
UR  - https://bib-pubdb1.desy.de/record/643552
ER  -