Spin Inelastic Electron Tunneling Spectroscopy on Local Spin Adsorbed on Surface

TL;DR

This paper provides a theoretical explanation for conductance features observed in magnetic impurities on surfaces, attributing them to inelastic spin state transitions induced by tunneling electrons, and discusses potential spin-polarized STM measurements.

Contribution

It offers a theoretical model linking conductance signatures to inelastic spin transitions caused by exchange coupling, enhancing understanding of magnetic impurity spectroscopy.

Findings

Conductance signatures are due to spin state transitions.

Inelastic transitions energies can be directly interpreted.

Spin-polarized STM can reveal local spin excitation spectra.

Abstract

The recent experimental conductance measurements taken on magnetic impurities on metallic surfaces, using scanning tunneling microscopy technique and suggesting occurrence of inelastic scattering processes, are theoretically addressed. We argue that the observed conductance signatures are caused by transitions between the spin states which have opened due to e.g. exchange coupling between the local spins and the tunneling electrons, and are directly interpretable in terms of inelastic transitions energies. Feasible measurements using spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy that would enable new information about the excitation spectrum of the local spins are discussed.