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Controlling the state of quantum spins with electric currents

Nature Physics volume 6, pages 340–344 (2010)Cite this article

Abstract

A current of spin-polarized electrons senses and controls the magnetic state of nanostructured materials1. Obtaining similar electrical access to quantum spin systems, such as single-molecule magnets, is still in its infancy2. Recent progress has been achieved by probing the spin system near thermal equilibrium3,4,5,6,7,8,9. However, it is the elusive non-equilibrium properties of the excited states that govern the time evolution of such structures and will ultimately establish the feasibility of applications in data storage2,10 and quantum information processing11,12. Here we use spin-polarized scanning tunnelling microscopy13 to pump electron spins of atoms on surfaces into highly excited states and sense the resulting spatial orientation of the spin. This electrical control culminates in complete inversion of the spin-state population and gives experimental access to the spin relaxation times of each excited state. The direction of current flow determines the orientation of the atom’s spin, indicating that electrical switching and sensing of future magnetic bits is feasible in the quantum regime.

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Figure 1: Spin-averaging and spin-polarized spectra of a Mn atom on a Cu2N/Cu(100) surface.
Figure 2: Spectra of a Mn–Mn dimer.
Figure 3: Mn atom spectra and spin-state occupations during spin pumping.
Figure 4: Spin lifetimes and magnetic-field dependence of Mn atom spectra.

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Acknowledgements

We thank D. Eigler for mentoring and great discussions, C. Hirjibehedin for suggesting the importance of spin-dependent elastic tunnelling and B. Melior for expert technical contributions. S.L. acknowledges support from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation; K.v.B. from the German Research Foundation (DFG) (Forschungsstipendium); A.F.O. from the Leiden University Fund; and S.L., M.T., C.P.L. and A.J.H. from the Office of Naval Research.

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Author notes

  1. Alexander F. Otte

    Present address: Present address: Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology, NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA,

Authors and Affiliations

  1. IBM Research Division, Almaden Research Center, San Jose, California 95120, USA

    Sebastian Loth, Kirsten von Bergmann, Markus Ternes, Alexander F. Otte, Christopher P. Lutz & Andreas J. Heinrich

  2. Institute of Applied Physics, University of Hamburg, 20355 Hamburg, Germany

    Kirsten von Bergmann

  3. Max-Planck-Institut für Festkörperforschung, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany

    Markus Ternes

  4. Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratorium, Universiteit Leiden, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands

    Alexander F. Otte

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  1. Sebastian Loth
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  2. Kirsten von Bergmann
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  3. Markus Ternes
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  4. Alexander F. Otte
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  6. Andreas J. Heinrich
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Contributions

All authors conducted the experiments and contributed to the preparation of the paper, S.L., C.P.L. and A.J.H. developed the rate equation model, S.L. and K.v.B. analysed the data.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andreas J. Heinrich.

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Loth, S., von Bergmann, K., Ternes, M. et al. Controlling the state of quantum spins with electric currents. Nature Phys 6, 340–344 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nphys1616

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