Article abstract
Nature Materials 7, 884 - 889 (2008)
Published online: 19 October 2008 | doi:10.1038/nmat2300
Subject Categories: Electronic materials | Nanoscale materials
Tunnelling spectra of individual magnetic endofullerene molecules
Jacob E. Grose1, Eugenia S. Tam1, Carsten Timm2, Michael Scheloske3, Burak Ulgut4, Joshua J. Parks1, Héctor D. Abruña4, Wolfgang Harneit3 & Daniel C. Ralph1
Abstract
The manipulation of single magnetic molecules may enable new strategies for high-density information storage and quantum-state control. However, progress in these areas depends on developing techniques for addressing individual molecules and controlling their spin. Here, we report success in making electrical contact to individual magnetic N@C60 molecules and measuring spin excitations in their electron tunnelling spectra. We verify that the molecules remain magnetic by observing a transition as a function of magnetic field that changes the spin quantum number and also the existence of non-equilibrium tunnelling originating from low-energy excited states. From the tunnelling spectra, we identify the charge and spin states of the molecule. The measured spectra can be reproduced theoretically by accounting for the exchange interaction between the nitrogen spin and electron(s) on the C60 cage.
- Laboratory of Atomic and Solid State Physics, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA
- Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas 66045, USA
- Institut für Experimentalphysik, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 14, 14195 Berlin, Germany
- Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853, USA
Correspondence to: Daniel C. Ralph1 e-mail: ralph@ccmr.cornell.edu
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