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Molecular magnets

How a nightmare turns into a vision

Nature Materials volume 8, pages 165–166 (2009)Cite this article

Two independent studies demonstrate how control over magnetic molecules on surfaces may lead to new spintronics applications.

Wolfgang Pauli once claimed that God created the volume but the surface was invented by the devil. Maybe for this reason surfaces have a sinister attraction for scientists fascinated by the possibilities of completely new effects and hence functionality at surfaces. But the interactions of molecular adsorbates with surfaces can be complicated and the experimental control of these systems can easily turn into a nightmare. Two works published in this issue by Matteo Mannini and colleagues1 (page 194) and Pietro Gambardella and colleagues2 (page 189) go through this nightmare of surface physics in order to come closer to realizing the vision of molecular spintronics.

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Figure 1: Controlling magnetic molecules on a surface.

References

  1. Mannini, M. et al. Nature Mater. 8, 194–197 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Gambardella, P. et al. Nature Mater. 8, 189–193 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Bernien, M. et al. Phys. Rev. Lett. 102, 047202 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Heiko Wende is at the Fachbereich Physik and Center for Nanointegration Duisburg-Essen (CeNIDE), Universität Duisburg-Essen, 47048 Duisburg, Germany. heiko.wende@uni-due.de,

    Heiko Wende

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  1. Heiko Wende
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Wende, H. How a nightmare turns into a vision. Nature Mater 8, 165–166 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2391

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat2391

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