Positioning and addressing single molecule magnets with an STM tip

Abstract

With their large magnetic anisotropy associated with long relaxation times of the magnetization, TbPc2 molecular magnets are good candidates for encoding and recording data. Their robustness and their propensity to arrange into networks lend themselves well to a study of their electronic and magnetic structure bySTM/STS at very low tem-perature (4.5 K). In this thesis work, it was possible to highlight a Kondo screening of the π-and 4f-electrons of the TbPc2 molecule by the electrons of the metal substrate. The magnetic properties of the molecule depend on their degree of interaction with the substrate and lateral interactions with other molecules. Thus, the π radical of the mol-ecule is preserved on Au (111) but disappears on Ag (111) under the effect of a charge transfer between the substrate and the molecular monolayer. Finally, when the mole-cule is in strong interaction with the Cu(111) substrate, a direct access to the 4f states of the central Tb ion by STM is possible as shown by the detection of a Kondo effect on the central Tb ion.