Tilted Spins in Chains of Molecular Switches on Pb(100).
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39276102.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1021/acsnano.4c07477 and PMC identifier 11440647.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
A complex based on a Ni(II) porphyrin exhibiting spin crossover on Ag(111) is studied on Pb(100) by scanning tunneling microscopy at 0.3 K. Strong molecular interactions between the phenyl and pentafluorophenyl moieties lead to the formation of molecular chains and cause a faceting of the substrate surface. The chains are located along double and multiple substrate steps that deviate from high-symmetry directions. Tunneling spectroscopy reveals spin-flip excitations of an <i>S</i> = 1 system. Measurements in high magnetic fields are used to identify a tilt of the complex and its hard anisotropy axis with respect to the surface normal. Electron injection into the substrate near the molecular rows induces a transition to a state with larger inelastic cross section, leaving the spin state unchanged.