2015/10/16 by Stefan Müllegger, E. Rauls, Eva Rauls +9 · 10 citations
Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced Chemical Physics Studies #Atomic physics #Condensed matter physics #Electron #Excitation #Ferromagnetism #Inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy #Molecular Junctions and Nanostructures #Physics #Quantum and electron transport phenomena #Quantum mechanics #Quantum tunnelling #Scanning tunneling microscope #Scanning tunneling spectroscopy #Spin (aerodynamics) #Spin engineering #Spin polarization #Spintronics #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.mtrl-sci
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevb.92.220418
published in Physical Review B 92(22) (American Physical Society)
arxiv created 2015/10/16 · openalex publication_date 2015/12/23 · arxiv updated 2016/01/20 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
Recent radio frequency scanning tunneling spectroscopy (rf-STS) experiments have demonstrated nuclear and electron spin excitations up to \ifmmode±\else\textpm\fi12\ensuremathℏ in a single molecular spin quantum dot (qudot). Despite the profound experimental evidence, the observed independence of the well-established dipole selection rules is not described by existing theory of magnetic resonance---pointing to a new excitation mechanism. Here we solve the puzzle of the underlying mechanism by discussing the relevant mechanistic steps. At the heart of the mechanism, periodic transient charging and electric polarization due to the rf-modulated tunneling process cause a periodic asymmetric deformation of the adsorbed qudot, enabling efficient spin transitions via spin-phonon-like coupling. The mechanism has general relevance for a broad variety of different spin qudots exhibiting internal mechanical degrees of freedom (organic molecules, doped semiconductor qudots, nanocrystals, etc.).