Sensing the Spin of an Individual Ce Adatom

Markus Ternes, Christopher P. Lutz, Andreas J. Heinrich, Wolf Dieter Schneider

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

The magnetic moment of rare earth elements originates from electrons in the partially filled 4f orbitals. Accessing this moment electrically by scanning tunneling spectroscopy is hampered by shielding of outerlying orbitals. Here, we show that we can detect the magnetic moment of an individual Ce atom adsorbed on a Cu2N ultrathin film on Cu(100) by using a sensor tip that has its apex functionalized with a Kondo screened spin system. We calibrate the sensor tip by deliberately coupling it to a well characterized Fe atom. Subsequently, we use the splitting of the tip's Kondo resonance when approaching a spectroscopically dark Ce atom to sense its magnetic moment.

Original languageEnglish
Article number167202
JournalPhysical Review Letters
Volume124
Issue number16
DOIs
StatePublished - 24 Apr 2020

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 American Physical Society. © 2020 American Physical Society.

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