Abstract
We built new hybrid devices consisting of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) grown carbon nanotube (CNT) transistors, decorated with TbPc2 (Pc = phthalocyanine) rare-earth based single-molecule magnets (SMMs). The drafting was achieved by tailoring supramolecular π-π interactions between CNTs and SMMs. The magnetoresistance hysteresis loop measurements revealed steep steps, which we can relate to the magnetization reversal of individual SMMs. Indeed, we established that the electronic transport properties of these devices depend strongly on the relative magnetization orientations of the grafted SMMs. The SMMs are playing the role of localized spin polarizer and analyzer on the CNT electronic conducting channel. As a result, we measured magneto-resistance ratios up to several hundred percent. We used this spin valve effect to confirm the strong uniaxial anisotropy and the superparamagnetic blocking temperature (TB ~ 1 K) of isolated TbPc2 SMMs. For the first time, the strength of exchange interaction between the different SMMs of the molecular spin valve geometry could be determined. Our results introduce a new design for operable molecular spintronic devices using the quantum effects of individual SMMs.
Highlights
Single molecule magnets (SMMs) have attracted much interest over the last years because of their unique magnetic properties
We focus our attention on the TbPc2 SMM based on a single Tb3+ ion coordinated to two phthalocyanine (Pc) ligands as depicted in Fdigure 1(a)
The TbPc2-SMM exhibits a significantly large axial magnetic anisotropy originating from the strong spin-orbit coupling in lanthanide ions and from the ligand field potential made by the two Pc ligands
Summary
Single molecule magnets (SMMs) have attracted much interest over the last years because of their unique magnetic properties. These molecular structures combine the classical properties of magnets with the intrinsic quantum nature of nanoscale entities. With a large spin ground state and a magnetic anisotropy well-defined, molecular clusters composed of few magnetic atoms have shown various properties such as the blocking of the spin orientation at low temperatures, quantum tunneling of magnetization (QTM) [1] and interference effects between tunneling paths [2]. The rich variety of quantum systems provided by the molecular magnetism field strongly motivates the use of SMMs for both quantum information storage and processing purposes
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