Regensburg 2025 – scientific programme

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PRV: Preisträgervorträge

PRV II

PRV II: Prize Talk

Tuesday, March 18, 2025, 13:15–13:45, H2

Single-molecule electron spin resonance by means of atomic force microscopy — •Lisanne Sellies — University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany — IBM Research Europe - Zurich, Rüschlikon, Switzerland — Laureate of the Gustav-Hertz-Prize 2025

Recently, we combined the high energy resolution of electron spin resonance (ESR) with the spatial resolution offered by atomic force microscopy (AFM) [1]. This ESR-AFM technique relies on driving electron spin transitions between the non-equilibrium triplet state levels of a single molecule. Since these triplet states typically have different lifetimes, driving such transitions modifies the overall triplet lifetime [1,2], which can be detected by an electronic pump-probe scheme [3].

In this talk, an introduction to ESR-AFM will be given. It will be shown that the ESR-AFM spectra feature a sub-nanoelectronvolt energy resolution. Thereby, molecules only differing in their isotopic configuration can be distinguished. Moreover, due to the minimally invasive nature of the ESR-AFM technique, the electron spins of pentacene can be coherently manipulated over tens of microseconds [4]. The high energy resolution and long spin coherence represent a leap forward for local studies of future artificial quantum systems and fundamental local quantum-sensing experiments.

[1] L. Sellies et al., Nature, 624, 64 (2023)

[2] J. Peng et al., Science, 373, 452 (2021)

[3] J. Köhler et al., Nature, 363, 242 (1993)

[4] J. Wrachtrup et al., Nature, 363, 244 (1993)

Keywords: Atomic Force Microscopy; Electron Spin Resonance; Single molecules