Observation and electric current control of a local spin in a single-molecule magnet

7 páginas, 6 figuras.-- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivative Works 3.0 Unported License.-- et al.In molecular spintronics, the spin state of a molecule may be switched on and off by changing the molecular structure. Here, we switch on and off the molecular spin of a double-decker bis(phthalocyaninato)terbium(III) complex (TbPc2) adsorbed on an Au(111) surface by applying an electric current via a scanning tunnelling microscope. The dI/dV curve of the tunnelling current recorded onto a TbPc2 molecule shows a Kondo peak, the origin of which is an unpaired spin of a π-orbital of a phthalocyaninato (Pc) ligand. By applying controlled current pulses, we could rotate the upper Pc ligand in TbPc2, leading to the disappearance and reappearance of the Kondo resonance. The rotation shifts the molecular frontier-orbital energies, quenching the π-electron spin. Reversible switching between two stable ligand orientations by applying a current pulse should make it possible to code information at the single-molecule level.T.K. and N.L. acknowledge the support from KAKENHI (22241026) and ‘R&D promotion scheme funding International joint research’ promoted by NICT (National Institute of Information and Communication Technology), Japan. N.L. acknowledges support from the Spanish MICINN FIS2009-12721-C04-01.Peer reviewe