Single-molecule enhanced spin-flip detection

TL;DR

This study investigates the magnetic properties of nickelocene molecules on copper surfaces and demonstrates how a functionalized tip enhances spin-flip detection signals significantly.

Contribution

It reveals that nickelocene maintains its magnetic properties across different metallic environments and introduces a method to boost inelastic signals using a molecular functionalized tip.

Findings

Nickelocene preserves magnetic moment and anisotropy on Cu(100) and other metallic environments.

Molecular functionalized tip enhances inelastic signal by nearly tenfold.

Double spin-excitation process enables improved spin-flip detection.

Abstract

We studied the spin-flip excitations of a double-decker nickelocene molecule (Nc) adsorbed on Cu(100) by means of inelastic tunneling spectroscopy (IETS), X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) and density functional theory calculations (DFT). The results show that the molecule preserves its magnetic moment and magnetic anisotropy not only on Cu(100), but also in different metallic environments including the tip apex. Taking advantage of the efficient spin-flip excitation of this molecule, we show how such a molecular functionalized tip boosts the inelastic signal of a surface supported Nc by almost one order of magnitude thanks to a double spin-excitation process.