Magnetic state electrical readout of Mn12 molecules

TL;DR

This paper shows how to identify different magnetic states of Mn12 molecules through electrical measurements, using advanced theoretical methods to analyze current-voltage characteristics and detect spin states.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach combining non-equilibrium transport and density functional theory to distinguish magnetic states via electrical readout.

Findings

Detection of spin-state-specific negative differential resistances

Identification of magnetic states through I-V curve analysis

Demonstration of electric field effects on molecular levels

Abstract

We demonstrate that the different magnetic states of a Mn12 molecule can be distinguished in a two-probe transport experiment from a complete knowledge of the current-voltage curve. Our results, obtained with state-of-the-art non-equilibrium transport methods combined with density functional theory, demonstrate that spin configuration-specific negative differential resistances (NDRs) appear in the I-V curves. These originate from the interplay between electron localization and the re-hybridization of the molecular levels in an external electric field and allow the detection of the molecule's spin-state.