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. 2020 May;19(5):546-551.
doi: 10.1038/s41563-020-0608-9. Epub 2020 Feb 17.

Quantum dynamics of a single molecule magnet on superconducting Pb(111)

Giulia Serrano  1   2 , Lorenzo Poggini  3 , Matteo Briganti  3   4 , Andrea Luigi Sorrentino  3   5 , Giuseppe Cucinotta  3 , Luigi Malavolti  6 , Brunetto Cortigiani  3 , Edwige Otero  7 , Philippe Sainctavit  7   8 , Sebastian Loth  6 , Francesca Parenti  9 , Anne-Laure Barra  10 , Alessandro Vindigni  11 , Andrea Cornia  9 , Federico Totti  3 , Matteo Mannini  3 , Roberta Sessoli  12
Affiliations

Quantum dynamics of a single molecule magnet on superconducting Pb(111)

Giulia Serrano et al. Nat Mater. 2020 May.

Abstract

Magnetic materials interfaced with superconductors may reveal new physical phenomena with potential for quantum technologies. The use of molecules as magnetic components has already shown great promise, but the diversity of properties offered by the molecular realm remains largely unexplored. Here we investigate a submonolayer of tetrairon(III) propeller-shaped single molecule magnets deposited on a superconducting lead surface. This material combination reveals a strong influence of the superconductor on the spin dynamics of the single molecule magnet. It is shown that the superconducting transition to the condensate state switches the single molecule magnet from a blocked magnetization state to a resonant quantum tunnelling regime. Our results open perspectives to control single molecule magnetism via superconductors and to use single molecule magnets as local probes of the superconducting state.

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