Vibron-assisted spin excitation in a magnetically anisotropic molecule

B. VERLHAC ; C. RUBIO-VERDÚ; D.-J. CHOI; N. LORENTE; L. GARNIER; P. ABUFAGER; M.-L. BOCQUET; L. LIMOT; N. BACHELLIER ; J. ZALDÍVAR ; M. ORMAZA; J.I. PASCUAL

NATURE COMMUNICATIONS

NATURE PUBLISHING GROUP

Año: 2020 vol. 11

2041-1723

The electrical control and readout of molecular spin states are key for high-density storage.Expectations are that electrically-driven spin and vibrational excitations in a molecule shouldgive rise to new conductance features in the presence of magnetic anisotropy, offeringalternative routes to study and, ultimately, manipulate molecular magnetism. Here, we useinelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy to promote and detect the excited spin states of aprototypical molecule with magnetic anisotropy. We demonstrate the existence of a vibron-assisted spin excitation that can exceed in energy and in amplitude a simple excitationamong spin states. This excitation, which can be quenched by structural changes in themagnetic molecule, is explained using first-principles calculations that include dynamicalelectronic correlations.