Description

We employed x-ray absorption spectroscopy and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism to study the magnetic properties of single rare-earth atoms adsorbed on the graphene/Ir(111) surface. The interaction of these atoms with graphene determines the filling of their 4f orbitals. Among the studied rare earth atoms, dysprosium is the only one that shows magnetic hysteresis and remanence at 2.5 K. By comparing measured spectra and magnetization curves with multiplet calculations, we determine the energy diagram of the magnetic states and show the relaxation process that determines the timescale of magnetic bistability for each investigated element.