Publication in Nature Materials

December 15, 2015, Nr. 101

The classical and quantum dynamics of molecular spins on graphene

A new research paper among participation of Prof. Martin Dressel and Dr. Lapo Bogani, University of Stuttgart, shows the effect of graphene phonons and electrons on the spin dynamics of molecules. The scientists show that Dirac electrons introduce dominant quantum-relaxation channels and, allow reaching a quantum tunneling regime, called Villain's tunneling, that was predicted 20 years ago and never observed. A novel theoretical background is provided, fully explaining the data and setting the basis for the understanding of graphene-spin interactions. These observations have profound consequences for the design of graphene spin-processing devices and pave the way to coherent control of graphene-based spintronic devices that can be manipulated electrically.

 

The investigation of graphene has become a central field in contemporary science, because of its superior properties and the profusion of physical phenomena that it has revealed. Several central issues remains unexplored, though: how does graphene interact with spins? can one modulate the spin behaviour via interactions with electrons? Answering these questions is important for information storage and logic devices, because graphene is hailed as a potentially ideal material in spintronics, but is largely diamangetic.

Christian Cervetti, Angelo Rettori, Maria Gloria Pini, Andrea Cornia, Ana Repollés,, Fernando Luis,  Martin Dressel, Stephan Rauschenbach, Klaus Kern, Marko Burghard & Lapo Bogani: The classical and quantum dynamics of molecular spins on graphene, Nature Materials 07 December 2015, http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nmat4490.html

Contact:
Prof. Martin Dressel, University of Stuttgart, 1. Physics Institute, Phone. 49(0)711/685-64946, E-Mail: dressel (at) physik.uni-stuttgart.de

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