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

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

1 DICUS UniFI - Dipartimento di Chimica 'Ugo Schiff' [Sesto Fiorentino]
2 Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research
3 SSOLEIL - Synchrotron SOLEIL
4 IMPMC - Institut de minéralogie et de physique des milieux condensés
5 UNIMORE - Università degli Studi di Modena e Reggio Emilia = University of Modena and Reggio Emilia
6 LNCMI-G - Laboratoire national des champs magnétiques intenses - Grenoble

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

Domaines: Agrégats Moléculaires et Atomiques [physics.atm-clus]

Giulia Serrano, Lorenzo Poggini, Matteo Briganti, Andrea Luigi Sorrentino, Giuseppe Cucinotta, et al.. Quantum dynamics of a single molecule magnet on superconducting Pb(111). Nature Materials, 2020, 19 (5), pp.546-551. ⟨10.1038/s41563-020-0608-9⟩. ⟨hal-02912241⟩