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Tunable magnetoresistance in an asymmetrically coupled single-molecule junction

Nature Nanotechnology volume 10, pages 259–263 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

Phenomena that are highly sensitive to magnetic fields can be exploited in sensors and non-volatile memories1. The scaling of such phenomena down to the single-molecule level2,3 may enable novel spintronic devices4. Here, we report magnetoresistance in a single-molecule junction arising from negative differential resistance that shifts in a magnetic field at a rate two orders of magnitude larger than Zeeman shifts. This sensitivity to the magnetic field produces two voltage-tunable forms of magnetoresistance, which can be selected via the applied bias. The negative differential resistance is caused by transient charging5,6,7 of an iron phthalocyanine (FePc) molecule on a single layer of copper nitride (Cu2N) on a Cu(001) surface, and occurs at voltages corresponding to the alignment of sharp resonances in the filled and empty molecular states with the Cu(001) Fermi energy. An asymmetric voltage-divider effect enhances the apparent voltage shift of the negative differential resistance with magnetic field, which inherently is on the scale of the Zeeman energy8. These results illustrate the impact that asymmetric coupling to metallic electrodes can have on transport through molecules, and highlight how this coupling can be used to develop molecular spintronic applications.

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Figure 1: FePc on Cu2N/Cu(001).
Figure 2: Differential conductance changes caused by magnetic-field-sensitive NDR.
Figure 3: Model of magnetically sensitive NDR.
Figure 4: Tunnelling across a double barrier junction.
Figure 5: Temperature dependence of NDR.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank G. Aeppli, V. Crespi, J. Elzerman, J. Fernández-Rossier, M. Hybertsen, P. Littlewood, S. Loth, C. Mathieu, M. Ternes and J. van Slageren for stimulating discussions. B.W., F.E.H., H.P., A.J.F. and C.F.H. acknowledge financial support from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) (EP/H002367/1 and EP/D063604/1) and the Leverhulme Trust (RPG-2012-754). M.P. is grateful for support from European Union project ARTIST (reference 243421) and allocations of computer resources at the high-performance computing facility HECToR through the Materials Chemistry Consortium funded by the EPSRC (EP/L000202/1) and at the Parallell Dator Centrum through the Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing.

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Author notes

  1. Fadi El Hallak

    Present address: Present address: Seagate Technology, Londonderry BT48 0BF, UK,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. London Centre for Nanotechnology, University College London (UCL), London, WC1H 0AH, UK

    Ben Warner, Fadi El Hallak, Henning Prüser, Andrew J. Fisher & Cyrus F. Hirjibehedin

  2. Department of Physics & Astronomy, UCL, London, WC1E 6BT, UK

    Ben Warner, Andrew J. Fisher & Cyrus F. Hirjibehedin

  3. Surface Science Research Centre and Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 3BX, UK

    John Sharp & Mats Persson

  4. Department of Applied Physics, Chalmers University of Technology, Göteborg, SE-412 96, Sweden

    Mats Persson

  5. Department of Chemistry, UCL, London, WC1H 0AJ, UK

    Cyrus F. Hirjibehedin

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Contributions

F.E.H. and C.F.H. conceived of the experiments. B.W., F.E.H. and H.P. performed the experiments and analysed the results. J.S. and M.P. performed the DFT calculations. All authors discussed the results and contributed to writing the paper.

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Correspondence to Cyrus F. Hirjibehedin.

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The authors declare no competing financial interests.

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Warner, B., El Hallak, F., Prüser, H. et al. Tunable magnetoresistance in an asymmetrically coupled single-molecule junction. Nature Nanotech 10, 259–263 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2014.326

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