Functional (Supra)Molecular Nanostructures - ruben-group
Functional (Supra)Molecular Nanostructures - ruben-group
Functional (Supra)Molecular Nanostructures - ruben-group
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Habilitation Dr. Mario Ruben<br />
ULP Strasbourg<br />
8.2. Current Research Projects<br />
8.2.1. Kondo-Molecules and <strong>Molecular</strong> Spintronics<br />
(Project supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft)<br />
The interaction of metals and molecules is a field which has recently attracted<br />
increasing attention due to the appearance of molecular electronics. Thereby, two different<br />
electronic regimes are combined: (i) the electrons of a simple metal (e.g. gold) can be<br />
considered as non-interacting quasiparticles resulting in a quasi-continuous description of the<br />
density of states (DOS) at low temperatures, whereas (ii) the electrons in a molecule are<br />
commonly highly correlated and show discrete electronic levels.<br />
In this project, we will create and investigate systems where a molecule on the surface<br />
induces electron correlations in the metal by controlled electron-metal interactions. In<br />
particular, the emergence of Kondo phenomena (or Abrikosov-Suhl resonances) in the<br />
metallic electron system by immobilization of spin-bearing coordination compounds (Ln and<br />
Co compounds) on (A) thin surfaces or between (B) nano-structured electrodes will be<br />
studied. Thereby, the main observable parameter will be (i) in the case of surfaces: the<br />
temperature and field dependence of the resistivity of a thin metal film (ii) in the case of<br />
nanostructured electrodes the I/V dependence of a current passing through the spin-bearing<br />
molecule (Figure 28).<br />
A) B)<br />
Figure 28. Sketch of the two configurations where the Kondo effect is expected: left:<br />
(A) molecule on top of a gold film, right: (B) molecule contacted to two electrodes in a break<br />
junction setup.<br />
The requirements of the molecules are delicate: on one hand, the free spin must<br />
survive when the molecule is in contact with the surface or the electrodes and on the other<br />
hand, the electronic coupling between the free spin and the conduction electrons must be<br />
sufficiently strong to make Kondo scattering efficient (and to keep the Kondo temperature in<br />
a convenient temperature range).<br />
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