Molekulare Spintronik

• Applicant: Dr. Florian Elste
• Subject Area: Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics
• Term: from 2009 to 2011
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 85767839

The idea of molecular spintronics consists of integrating the promising concepts of molecular electronics and spintronics. A particularly interesting aspect of molecular electronics, besides the prospect of further miniaturization, is the possibility of using chemical synthesis for the fabrication of device components. This bottom-up process would start from relatively simple molecules and be massively parallel. On the other hand, spintronics devices rely on using the spin of the electron instead of its charge to store and process information. However, only little attention has been paid to combining the two approaches. In this context, molecular spintronics is discussed in relation to single-molecule magnets, spin-crossover materials and graphene. (i) We propose to investigate spin-dependent quantum transport through single-molecule magnets. Here we are particularly interested in the regime of strong interactions with the electrodes, which has hardly been studied theoretically. This regime corresponds to the STM experiment, where the presence of substrate typically results in a strong broadening of the molecular levels. (ii) We propose to set up a theory for the magnetic properties and transport phenomena of spin-crossover molecules. Here we focus on materials which exhibit a stable intermediate-spin state in addition to the usual low-spin and high-spin states. (iii) We propose to study spin-dependent transport phenomena in graphene. We start by investigation the Kondo effect and the role of electron-phonon coupling. However, due to the rapid progress in this research area we might adapt our plan to new experimental and theoretical results.

• DFG Programme: Research Fellowships
• International Connection: USA
• Host: Professor Dr. Andrew J. Millis