The coherent transport of charge and spin is a key requirement of future devices for quantum computing and communication. Scattering at defects or impurities may significantly reduce the coherence of quantum-mechanical states, thereby affecting the device functionality. While numerous methods exist to experimentally assess charge transport, the real-space detection of a material’s ballistic spin transport properties with nanometer resolution remains a challenge. Here we report on a novel approach that utilizes a combination of spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy (SP-STM) and the recently introduced molecular nanoprobe (MONA) technique. It relies on the local injection of spin-polarized charge carriers from a magnetic STM tip and their detection by a single surface-deposited phthalocyanine molecule via reversible electron-induced tautomerization events. Based on the particular electronic structure of the Rashba alloy BiAg2, which is governed by a spin-momentum-locked surface state, we prove that the current direction inverses upon tip magnetization reversal.
%0 Journal Article
%1 hartl2023probing
%A Härtl, Patrick
%A Leisegang, Markus
%A Kügel, Jens
%A Bode, Matthias
%B Nano Letters
%D 2023
%I American Chemical Society
%J Nano Lett.
%K a b
%N 24
%P 11608--11613
%R 10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c03404
%T Probing spin-dependent ballistic charge transport at dingle-nanometer length scales
%U https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c03404
%V 23
%X The coherent transport of charge and spin is a key requirement of future devices for quantum computing and communication. Scattering at defects or impurities may significantly reduce the coherence of quantum-mechanical states, thereby affecting the device functionality. While numerous methods exist to experimentally assess charge transport, the real-space detection of a material’s ballistic spin transport properties with nanometer resolution remains a challenge. Here we report on a novel approach that utilizes a combination of spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy (SP-STM) and the recently introduced molecular nanoprobe (MONA) technique. It relies on the local injection of spin-polarized charge carriers from a magnetic STM tip and their detection by a single surface-deposited phthalocyanine molecule via reversible electron-induced tautomerization events. Based on the particular electronic structure of the Rashba alloy BiAg2, which is governed by a spin-momentum-locked surface state, we prove that the current direction inverses upon tip magnetization reversal.
@article{hartl2023probing,
abstract = {The coherent transport of charge and spin is a key requirement of future devices for quantum computing and communication. Scattering at defects or impurities may significantly reduce the coherence of quantum-mechanical states, thereby affecting the device functionality. While numerous methods exist to experimentally assess charge transport, the real-space detection of a material’s ballistic spin transport properties with nanometer resolution remains a challenge. Here we report on a novel approach that utilizes a combination of spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy (SP-STM) and the recently introduced molecular nanoprobe (MONA) technique. It relies on the local injection of spin-polarized charge carriers from a magnetic STM tip and their detection by a single surface-deposited phthalocyanine molecule via reversible electron-induced tautomerization events. Based on the particular electronic structure of the Rashba alloy BiAg2, which is governed by a spin-momentum-locked surface state, we prove that the current direction inverses upon tip magnetization reversal.},
added-at = {2024-01-08T10:16:07.000+0100},
author = {Härtl, Patrick and Leisegang, Markus and Kügel, Jens and Bode, Matthias},
biburl = {https://www.bibsonomy.org/bibtex/27e9c079ef6aa0fcec52ca971016c63d7/ctqmat},
booktitle = {Nano Letters},
comment = {doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c03404},
day = 14,
doi = {10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c03404},
interhash = {3ddd04b803b9ace30806b94ad0cc510f},
intrahash = {7e9c079ef6aa0fcec52ca971016c63d7},
issn = {15306984},
journal = {Nano Lett.},
keywords = {a b},
month = {12},
number = 24,
pages = {11608--11613},
publisher = {American Chemical Society},
timestamp = {2024-01-08T10:16:32.000+0100},
title = {Probing spin-dependent ballistic charge transport at dingle-nanometer length scales},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.nanolett.3c03404},
volume = 23,
year = 2023
}