Abstract
Molecular spins have become key enablers for exploring magnetic interactions, quantum information processes and many-body effects in metals. Metal-organic molecules, in particular, let the spin state of the core metal ion to be modified according to its organic environment, allowing localized magnetic moments to emerge as functional entities with radically different properties from its simple atomic counterparts. Here, using and preserving the integrity of transition metal phthalocyanine high-spin complexes, we demonstrate the magnetic doping of gold thin films, effectively creating a new ground state. We demonstrate it by electrical transport measurements that are sensitive to the scattering of itinerant electrons with magnetic impurities, such as Kondo effect and weak antilocalization. Our work expands in a simple and powerful way the classes of materials that can be used as magnetic dopants, opening a new channel to couple the wide range of molecular properties with spin phenomena at a functional scale.
Highlights
Molecular spins have become key enablers for exploring magnetic interactions, quantum information processes and many-body effects in metals
We primarily demonstrate our concept using copper (II) phthalocyanine (CuPc), a paramagnetic metal-organic molecule with spin angular momentum S 1⁄4 1/2 arising from the oxidation state of the core metal ion, Cu2 þ
In the range of molecule thicknesses evaporated in this work, CuPc thin films grown on Au(110) and Au(100) surfaces are known to exhibit order-disorder-order behaviour, with transitions occurring in less than one monolayer coverage, requiring several molecular layers before achieving order as several tens of nanometer thick bulklike films[21,22]
Summary
Molecular spins have become key enablers for exploring magnetic interactions, quantum information processes and many-body effects in metals. By destroying the organic framework with an energetic metal layer deposition, the magnetic metal-core impurities are dissolved into the metal to form a magnetic dilute alloy This molecular carrier approach necessarily relies on magnetic transition metal core ions, and does not benefit from the physical properties of the molecules[4,16], avoiding the clustering of dopants. In the following we demonstrate that the intrinsic spin contained in a metal-organic molecule can be used at a functional scale as a magnetic dopant in a metal, following an approach that preserves the integrity of the molecule This demonstration shows the potential of combining molecular entities with conventional metals for exploring novel magnetic phenomena and materials. We complement this study using cobalt (II) phthalocyanine (CoPc), and perform control experiments with nickel (II) phthalocyanine (NiPc), phthalocyanine (Pc) and Cu
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