Noriyuki Tsukahara

Structure of Silicene Grown on Ag(111)

The structure of silicene, the two-dimensional honeycomb sheet of Si, grown on Ag(111) was investigated by scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and low-energy electron diffraction (LEED) combined with density functional theory (DFT) calculation. Two atomic arrangements of honeycomb configuration were found by STM, which are confirmed by LEED and DFT calculations; one is 4×4 and the other is √13×√13 R13.9°. In the 4×4 structure, the honeycomb lattice remains with six atoms displaced vertically, whereas the √13×√13 R13.9° takes the regularly buckled honeycomb geometry.

Controlling orbital-selective Kondo effects in a single molecule through coordination chemistry

Iron(II) phthalocyanine (FePc) molecule causes novel Kondo effects derived from the unique electronic structure of multi-spins and multi-orbitals when attached to Au(111). Two unpaired electrons in the d(z)(2) and the degenerate dπ orbitals are screened stepwise, resulting in spin and spin+orbital Kondo effects, respectively. We investigated the impact on the Kondo effects of the coordination of CO and NO molecules to the Fe(2+) ion as chemical stimuli by using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and density functional theory calculations. The impacts of the two diatomic molecules are different from each other as a result of the different electronic configurations. The coordination of CO converts the spin state from triplet to singlet, and then the Kondo effects completely disappear. In contrast, an unpaired electron survives in the molecular orbital composed of Fe d(z)(2) and NO 5σ and 2π* orbitals for the coordination of NO, causing a sharp Kondo resonance. The isotropic magnetic response of the peak indicates the origin is the spin Kondo effect. The diatomic molecules attached to the Fe(2+) ion were easily detached by applying a pulsed voltage at the STM junction. These results demonstrate that the single molecule chemistry enables us to switch and control the spin and the many-body quantum states reversibly.

Single-molecule quantum dot as a Kondo simulator

Structural flexibility of molecule-based systems is key to realizing the novel functionalities. Tuning the structure in the atomic scale enables us to manipulate the quantum state in the molecule-based system. Here we present the reversible Hamiltonian manipulation in a single-molecule quantum dot consisting of an iron phthalocyanine molecule attached to an Au electrode and a scanning tunnelling microscope tip. We precisely controlled the position of Fe2+ ion in the molecular cage by using the tip, and tuned the Kondo coupling between the molecular spins and the Au electrode. Then, we realized the crossover between the strong-coupling Kondo regime and the weak-coupling regime governed by spin–orbit interaction in the molecule. The results open an avenue to simulate low-energy quantum many-body physics and quantum phase transition through the molecular flexibility.

Microscopic diffusion processes of NO on the Pt(997) surface

The microscopic diffusion processes of NO molecules on Pt(997) at low coverage were investigated using time-resolved infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy (TR-IRAS). When NO molecules adsorb on Pt(997) at low temperature, each molecule transiently migrates on the surface from the first impact point to a possible adsorption site. At 11 K, the molecules are trapped at four adsorption sites on Pt(997): the on-top sites on the (111) terrace (OT), the hollow sites on the (111) terrace (HT), the bridge sites at the step (BS) and the hollow sites at the step downstream (HS). Based on the initial population ratio for these sites, the mean lateral displacement by transient migration is estimated to be 4.1 A. By heating the surface to 45 K, the HS species migrate up to the BS sites; the migration barrier is roughly estimated to be 120 meV. In the temperature range from 70 to 77 K, TR-IRAS measurements were carried out to observe the site change of OT species to the adjacent HT sites at isothermal conditions; the activation barrier and the preexponential factor are estimated to be 200 meV and 2.0 x 10(11) s(-1), respectively. In the temperature range from 100 to 110 K, the HT species migrate across the terrace and finally reach the BS sites. The activation barrier between the HT sites and the preexponential factor are estimated to be 290 meV and 6.5 x 10(11) s(-1), respectively, from the TR-IRAS data together with kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. On the whole, the quantitative microscopic picture of NO migration on Pt(997) has been established.

Impact of reduced symmetry on magnetic anisotropy of a single iron phthalocyanine molecule on a Cu substrate

We study the magnetic anisotropy of a single iron phthalocyanine (FePc) molecule on a Cu(110) (2 × 1)-O by using inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy (IETS) with low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy. Two inelastic excitations derived from the splitting of the molecular triplet spin state appear as two pairs of steps symmetrically with respect to zero sample voltage. We measured IETS spectra with external magnetic fields perpendicular and parallel to the molecular plane, and we analyzed the spectral evolution with the effective spin Hamiltonian approach. We determined all parameters related with magnetic anisotropy at a single-molecule level, both the easy- and hard-magnetization directions, zero-field splitting constant, D = - 4.0 meV and E = 1.1 meV, the Lande g-tensor gxx, gyy, gzz=(1.82, 2.02, 2.34), and the constant of spin-orbit coupling λ = - 19.1 meV. We stress that the symmetry breaking caused by the adsorption of FePc on the oxidized Cu(110) significantly impacts the magnetic anisotropy.