Berlin 2012 – scientific programme

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PV: Plenarvorträge

PV 4: PV IV

PV 4.1: Prize Talk

Monday, March 26, 2012, 14:00–14:45, HE 101

Elementary excitations in single molecules on surfaces — •Katharina J. Franke — Fachbereich Physik, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany — Laureate of the Hertha-Sponer-Prize

The ultimate goal of molecular electronics is to use single molecules as electronic devices and magnetic storage units. Chemical synthesis offers a wide variety of molecular functionalities. However, the electronic coupling of a molecule to electrodes drastically modifies its properties from the gas phase. Design strategies for electronic circuits thus need to consider the molecule along with the contacts as a complex coupled system rather than individual objects.

Using scanning tunnelling spectroscopy, we probe vibrational, electronic, and magnetic excitations in single molecules. We use these fingerprints to show how the molecular properties in contact with metallic and superconducting electrodes are affected. Variations in the atomic scale environment modify the electronic and magnetic coupling strength to the substrate. This allows us to explore different magnetic and superconducting ground states in the molecule-substrate junction.