Work

Correlation-driven transport asymmetries through coupled spins in a tunnel junction

Year: 2017

Type: article

Abstract: Spin-spin correlations can be the driving force that favours certain ground states and are key in numerous models that describe the behaviour of strongly correlated materials. While the sum of collective correlations usually lead to a macroscopically measurable change in properties, a direct quantification of correlations in atomic scale systems is difficult. Here we determine the correlations between a strongly hybridized spin impurity on the tip of a scanning tunnelling microscope and its electron bath by varying the coupling to a second spin impurity weakly hybridized to the sample surface. Electronic transport through these coupled spins reveals an asymmetry in the differential conductance reminiscent of spin-polarized transport in a magnetic field. We show that at zero field, this asymmetry can be controlled by the coupling strength and is related to either ferromagnetic or antiferromagnetic spin-spin correlations in the tip.

Source: Nature Communications

DOI: 10.1038/ncomms14119

Authors: Matthias Muenks, Peter Jacobson, Markus Ternes, Klaus Kern

Institutions: Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne

Language: English

Topic: Quantum and electron transport phenomena

Subfield: Atomic and Molecular Physics, and Optics

Field: Physics and Astronomy

Domain: Physical Sciences

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $6,990

Funder: Alexander von Humboldt-Stiftung