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Reale S, Hwang J, Oh J, Brune H, Heinrich AJ, Donati F, Bae Y. Electrically driven spin resonance of 4f electrons in a single atom on a surface. Nat Commun 2024; 15:5289. [PMID: 38902242 PMCID: PMC11190280 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-49447-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2023] [Accepted: 06/05/2024] [Indexed: 06/22/2024] Open
Abstract
A pivotal challenge in quantum technologies lies in reconciling long coherence times with efficient manipulation of the quantum states of a system. Lanthanide atoms, with their well-localized 4f electrons, emerge as a promising solution to this dilemma if provided with a rational design for manipulation and detection. Here we construct tailored spin structures to perform electron spin resonance on a single lanthanide atom using a scanning tunneling microscope. A magnetically coupled structure made of an erbium and a titanium atom enables us to both drive the erbium's 4f electron spins and indirectly probe them through the titanium's 3d electrons. The erbium spin states exhibit an extended spin relaxation time and a higher driving efficiency compared to 3d atoms with spin ½ in similarly coupled structures. Our work provides a new approach to accessing highly protected spin states, enabling their coherent control in an all-electric fashion.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefano Reale
- Center for Quantum Nanoscience (QNS), Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Department of Energy, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
| | - Jiyoon Hwang
- Center for Quantum Nanoscience (QNS), Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Department of Physics, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Jeongmin Oh
- Center for Quantum Nanoscience (QNS), Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Department of Physics, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Harald Brune
- Institute of Physics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland
| | - Andreas J Heinrich
- Center for Quantum Nanoscience (QNS), Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Department of Physics, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
| | - Fabio Donati
- Center for Quantum Nanoscience (QNS), Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul, Republic of Korea.
- Department of Physics, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
| | - Yujeong Bae
- Center for Quantum Nanoscience (QNS), Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul, Republic of Korea.
- Department of Physics, Ewha Womans University, Seoul, Republic of Korea.
- Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, nanotech@surfaces Laboratory, Dübendorf, Switzerland.
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Cho FH, Park J, Oh S, Yu J, Jeong Y, Colazzo L, Spree L, Hommel C, Ardavan A, Boero G, Donati F. A continuous-wave and pulsed X-band electron spin resonance spectrometer operating in ultra-high vacuum for the study of low dimensional spin ensembles. THE REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS 2024; 95:063904. [PMID: 38864723 DOI: 10.1063/5.0189974] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/02/2023] [Accepted: 05/09/2024] [Indexed: 06/13/2024]
Abstract
We report the development of a continuous-wave and pulsed X-band electron spin resonance (ESR) spectrometer for the study of spins on ordered surfaces down to cryogenic temperatures. The spectrometer operates in ultra-high vacuum and utilizes a half-wavelength microstrip line resonator realized using epitaxially grown copper films on single crystal Al2O3 substrates. The one-dimensional microstrip line resonator exhibits a quality factor of more than 200 at room temperature, close to the upper limit determined by radiation losses. The surface characterizations of the copper strip of the resonator by atomic force microscopy, low-energy electron diffraction, and scanning tunneling microscopy show that the surface is atomically clean, flat, and single crystalline. Measuring the ESR spectrum at 15 K from a few nm thick molecular film of YPc2, we find a continuous-wave ESR sensitivity of 2.6 × 1011 spins/G · Hz1/2, indicating that a signal-to-noise ratio of 3.9 G · Hz1/2 is expected from a monolayer of YPc2 molecules. Advanced pulsed ESR experimental capabilities, including dynamical decoupling and electron-nuclear double resonance, are demonstrated using free radicals diluted in a glassy matrix.
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Affiliation(s)
- Franklin H Cho
- Center for Quantum Nanoscience, Institute for Basic Science, Seoul 03760, South Korea
- Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, South Korea
| | - Juyoung Park
- Center for Quantum Nanoscience, Institute for Basic Science, Seoul 03760, South Korea
- Department of Physics, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, South Korea
| | - Soyoung Oh
- Center for Quantum Nanoscience, Institute for Basic Science, Seoul 03760, South Korea
- Department of Physics, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, South Korea
| | - Jisoo Yu
- Center for Quantum Nanoscience, Institute for Basic Science, Seoul 03760, South Korea
- Department of Physics, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, South Korea
| | - Yejin Jeong
- Center for Quantum Nanoscience, Institute for Basic Science, Seoul 03760, South Korea
- Department of Physics, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, South Korea
| | - Luciano Colazzo
- Center for Quantum Nanoscience, Institute for Basic Science, Seoul 03760, South Korea
- Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, South Korea
| | - Lukas Spree
- Center for Quantum Nanoscience, Institute for Basic Science, Seoul 03760, South Korea
- Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, South Korea
| | - Caroline Hommel
- Center for Quantum Nanoscience, Institute for Basic Science, Seoul 03760, South Korea
- Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, South Korea
| | - Arzhang Ardavan
- Clarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom
| | - Giovanni Boero
- Microsystems Laboratory, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
| | - Fabio Donati
- Center for Quantum Nanoscience, Institute for Basic Science, Seoul 03760, South Korea
- Department of Physics, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, South Korea
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Bui HT, Wolf C, Wang Y, Haze M, Ardavan A, Heinrich AJ, Phark SH. All-Electrical Driving and Probing of Dressed States in a Single Spin. ACS NANO 2024; 18:12187-12193. [PMID: 38698541 DOI: 10.1021/acsnano.4c00196] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2024]
Abstract
The subnanometer distance between tip and sample in a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) enables the application of very large electric fields with a strength as high as ∼1 GV/m. This has allowed for efficient electrical driving of Rabi oscillations of a single spin on a surface at a moderate radiofrequency (RF) voltage on the order of tens of millivolts. Here, we demonstrate the creation of dressed states of a single electron spin localized in the STM tunnel junction by using resonant RF driving voltages. The read-out of these dressed states was achieved all electrically by a weakly coupled probe spin. Our work highlights the strength of the atomic-scale geometry inherent to the STM that facilitates the creation and control of dressed states, which are promising for the design of atomic scale quantum devices using individual spins on surfaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hong T Bui
- Center for Quantum Nanoscience, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul 03760, Korea
- Department of Physics, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Korea
| | - Christoph Wolf
- Center for Quantum Nanoscience, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul 03760, Korea
- Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Korea
| | - Yu Wang
- Center for Quantum Nanoscience, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul 03760, Korea
- Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Korea
| | - Masahiro Haze
- The Institute for Solid State Physics, University of Tokyo, Kashiwa 277-8581, Japan
| | - Arzhang Ardavan
- CAESR, Clarendon Laboratory, Department of Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PU, United Kingdom
| | - Andreas J Heinrich
- Center for Quantum Nanoscience, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul 03760, Korea
- Department of Physics, Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Korea
| | - Soo-Hyon Phark
- Center for Quantum Nanoscience, Institute for Basic Science (IBS), Seoul 03760, Korea
- Ewha Womans University, Seoul 03760, Korea
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Probing single electron spins with an atomic force microscope for quantum applications. Nature 2023:10.1038/d41586-023-03650-x. [PMID: 38057463 DOI: 10.1038/d41586-023-03650-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/08/2023]
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Sellies L, Spachtholz R, Bleher S, Eckrich J, Scheuerer P, Repp J. Single-molecule electron spin resonance by means of atomic force microscopy. Nature 2023; 624:64-68. [PMID: 38057570 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06754-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2022] [Accepted: 10/17/2023] [Indexed: 12/08/2023]
Abstract
Understanding and controlling decoherence in open quantum systems is of fundamental interest in science, whereas achieving long coherence times is critical for quantum information processing1. Although great progress was made for individual systems, and electron spin resonance (ESR) of single spins with nanoscale resolution has been demonstrated2-4, the understanding of decoherence in many complex solid-state quantum systems requires ultimately controlling the environment down to atomic scales, as potentially enabled by scanning probe microscopy with its atomic and molecular characterization and manipulation capabilities. Consequently, the recent implementation of ESR in scanning tunnelling microscopy5-8 represents a milestone towards this goal and was quickly followed by the demonstration of coherent oscillations9,10 and access to nuclear spins11 with real-space atomic resolution. Atomic manipulation even fuelled the ambition to realize the first artificial atomic-scale quantum devices12. However, the current-based sensing inherent to this method limits coherence times12,13. Here we demonstrate pump-probe ESR atomic force microscopy (AFM) detection of electron spin transitions between non-equilibrium triplet states of individual pentacene molecules. Spectra of these transitions exhibit sub-nanoelectronvolt spectral resolution, allowing local discrimination of molecules that only differ in their isotopic configuration. Furthermore, the electron spins can be coherently manipulated over tens of microseconds. We anticipate that single-molecule ESR-AFM can be combined with atomic manipulation and characterization and thereby paves the way to learn about the atomistic origins of decoherence in atomically well-defined quantum elements and for fundamental quantum-sensing experiments.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lisanne Sellies
- Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
| | - Raffael Spachtholz
- Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Sonja Bleher
- Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Jakob Eckrich
- Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Philipp Scheuerer
- Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany
| | - Jascha Repp
- Institute of Experimental and Applied Physics, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany.
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Castelvecchi D. New kind of quantum computer made using high-resolution microscope. Nature 2023:10.1038/d41586-023-03141-z. [PMID: 37803200 DOI: 10.1038/d41586-023-03141-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/08/2023]
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