Single spin localization and manipulation in graphene open-shell nanostructures

Jingcheng Li, Sofia Sanz, Martina Corso, Deung Jang Choi, Diego Peña, Thomas Frederiksen and Jose Ignacio Pascual ()
Additional contact information
Jingcheng Li: CIC nanoGUNE
Sofia Sanz: Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC)
Martina Corso: Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC)
Deung Jang Choi: Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC)
Diego Peña: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela
Thomas Frederiksen: Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC)
Jose Ignacio Pascual: CIC nanoGUNE

Nature Communications, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: Abstract Turning graphene magnetic is a promising challenge to make it an active material for spintronics. Predictions state that graphene structures with specific shapes can spontaneously develop magnetism driven by Coulomb repulsion of π-electrons, but its experimental verification is demanding. Here, we report on the observation and manipulation of individual magnetic moments in graphene open-shell nanostructures on a gold surface. Using scanning tunneling spectroscopy, we detect the presence of single electron spins localized around certain zigzag sites of the carbon backbone via the Kondo effect. We find near-by spins coupled into a singlet ground state and quantify their exchange interaction via singlet-triplet inelastic electron excitations. Theoretical simulations picture how electron correlations result in spin-polarized radical states with the experimentally observed spatial distributions. Extra hydrogen atoms bound to radical sites quench their magnetic moment and switch the spin of the nanostructure in half-integer amounts. Our work demonstrates the intrinsic π-paramagnetism of graphene nanostructures.

Date: 2019
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-08060-6 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:10:y:2019:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-018-08060-6

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-018-08060-6

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().