Abstract
We used electron spin resonance (ESR) combined with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to measure hydrogenated Ti (spin-1/2) atoms at low-symmetry binding sites on MgO in vector magnetic fields. We found strongly anisotropic g-values in all three spatial directions. Interestingly, the amplitude and lineshape of the ESR signals are also strongly dependent on the angle of the field. We conclude that the Ti spin is aligned along the magnetic field, while the tip spin follows its strong magnetic anisotropy. Our results show the interplay between the tip and surface spins in determining the ESR signals and highlight the precision of ESR-STM to identify the single atom's spin states.
Highlights
Single spins are widely regarded as an excellent candidate for realizing next-generation quantum devices for sensing [1,2,3] and information processing [4]
Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), on the other hand, offers access to individual spins and to the surrounding environment at the atomic scale, albeit with an energy resolution that is limited by the temperature of tip and sample [11,12,13]
We modeled our system as two monolayers of MgO frozen at the lateral lattice constant of silver, expanded into a 1 × 1 nm2 lateral supercell and padded by 15 Å of vacuum in the z direction [23]
Summary
Single spins are widely regarded as an excellent candidate for realizing next-generation quantum devices for sensing [1,2,3] and information processing [4]. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), on the other hand, offers access to individual spins and to the surrounding environment at the atomic scale, albeit with an energy resolution that is limited by the temperature of tip and sample [11,12,13]. We positioned and probed a hydrogenated titanium (Ti) atom with spin 1/2 on MgO/Ag(100) using ESRSTM incorporated with a vector magnet In such a setup, the atomic spin in the tunnel junction is subjected to a magnetic field provided by an external magnetic field but a spatially inhomogeneous magnetic field of tip. By rotating the single spin using the static external magnetic field, we are able to obtain a full spatial characterization of the tip magnetic field and the three-dimensional map of the surface spin’s g factor from extensive ESR spectroscopic measurements
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