Electric Control of Spin Transitions at the Atomic Scale

Abstract

Electric control of spins has been a longstanding goal in the field of solid state physics due to the potential for increased efficiency in information processing. This efficiency can be optimized by transferring spintronics to the atomic scale. We present electric control of spin resonance transitions in single molecules by employing electron spin resonance scanning tunneling microscopy (ESR-STM). We find strong bias voltage dependent shifts in the ESR signal of about ten times its linewidth, which is due to the electric field induced displacement of the spin system in the tunnel junction. This opens up new avenues for ultrafast control of coupled spin systems, even towards atomic scale quantum computing, and expands on understanding and optimizing spin electric coupling in bulk materials.

11 pages, 13 figures, including supplementary information

References in corpus (7)

• Operating Quantum States in Single Magnetic Molecules: Implementation of Grover's Quantum Algorithm
• Spin-Electric Coupling in Molecular Magnets
• Electrically controlling single spin qubits in a continuous microwave field
• Engineering the eigenstates of coupled spin-1/2 atoms on a surface
• Harnessing the Quantum Behavior of Spins on Surfaces
• Combining Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy with Scanning Tunneling Microscopy at High Magnetic Fields
• Optimizing tip-surface interactions in ESR-STM experiments

Cited by in corpus (8)

• Spin torque driven electron paramagnetic resonance of a single spin in a pentacene molecule
• Roadmap on Nanoscale Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• Direct electrical access to the spin manifolds of individual monovalent lanthanide atoms
• Contrasting exchange-field and spin-transfer torque driving mechanisms in all-electric electron spin resonance
• Single-shot readout of the nuclear spin of an on-surface atom
• Efficient driving of a spin-qubit using single-atom magnets
• Electrically tunable quantum interference of atomic spins on surfaces
• Theory of Electron Spin Resonance Scanning Tunneling Microscopy: The First Decade