Magnetic anisotropy in surface supported single ion lanthanide complexes

Single ion lanthanide organic complexes can provide stable magnetic moments with well defined orientation for spintronic applications on the atomic level. Here, we show by a combined experimental approach of scanning tunneling microscopy and x ray absorption spectroscopy that dysprosium tris 1,1,1 trifluoro 4 2 thienyl 2,4 butanedionate Dy tta 3 complexes deposited on a Au 111 surface undergo a molecular distortion, resulting in distinct crystal field symmetry imposed on the Dy ion. This leads to an easy axis magnetization direction in the ligand plane. Furthermore, we show that tunneling electrons hardly couple to the spin excitations, which we ascribe to the shielded nature of the 4f electron

Atypical charge redistribution over a charge-transfer monolayer on a metal

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