Carrier-dependent magnetic anisotropy of Gd-adsorbed graphene

Using first-principles calculation based on density functional theory, we study the magnetic anisotropy of Gd-adsorbed graphene and its dependence on carrier accumulation. We show that carrier accumulation not only impacts the magnitude of magnetic anisotropy but also switches its sign. Hole accumulation enhances the perpendicular anisotropy up to ∼16 meV per Gd atom, while electron accumulation switches the anisotropy from perpendicular to in-plane direction. Moreover, we find that the first order perturbation of spin-orbit coupling interaction induces a pseudo-gap at Γ for the perpendicular magnetization, which leads to the the anomalous magnetic anisotropy for the neutral composite. Our findings pave the way for magneto-electric materials based on rare-earth-decorated graphene for voltage-controlled spintronics.