# Atomic-scale spin sensing with a single-molecule at the apex of a scanning tunneling microscope

## TL;DR

This paper demonstrates that a nickelocene-functionalized STM tip can detect and analyze surface magnetism at atomic scale by observing changes in spin excitation spectra, enabling detailed magnetic characterization.

## Contribution

It introduces the use of a nickelocene-terminated STM tip for atomic-scale spin sensing, allowing simultaneous measurement of exchange fields and spin polarization.

## Key findings

- Nickelocene tips can detect magnetic effects at 100 pm distance.
- The method enables atomic-scale resolution of surface magnetism.
- Surface magnetic properties can be characterized using spin excitation spectra.

## Abstract

Recent advances in scanning probe techniques rely on the chemical functionalization of the probe-tip termination by a single molecule. The success of this approach opens the tantalizing prospect of introducing spin sensitivity through the functionalization by a magnetic molecule. Here, we use a nickelocene-terminated tip (Nc-tip), which offers the possibility of producing spin excitations on the tip apex of a scanning tunneling microscope (STM). We show that when the Nc-tip is a hundred pm away from point contact with a surface-supported object, magnetic effects may be probed through changes in the spin excitation spectrum of nickelocene. We use this detection scheme to simultaneously determine the exchange field and the spin polarization of the sample with atomic-scale resolution. Our findings demonstrate that the Nc-tip is a powerful probe for investigating surface magnetism with STM, from single magnetic atoms to surfaces.