Magnetic interaction between a radical spin and a single-molecule magnet in a molecular spin-valve

Molecular spintronics using single molecule magnets (SMMs) is a fast growing field of nanoscience that proposes to manipulate the magnetic and quantum information stored in these molecules. Herein we report evidence of a strong magnetic coupling between a metallic ion and a radical spin in one of the most extensively studied SMMs: the bis(phtalocyaninato)terbium(III) complex (TbPc2). For that we use an original multiterminal device comprising a carbon nanotube laterally coupled to the SMMs. The current through the device, sensitive to magnetic interactions, is used to probe the magnetization of a single Tb ion. Combining this electronic read-out with the transverse field technique has allowed us to measure the interaction between the terbium ion, its nuclear spin, and a single electron located on the phtalocyanine ligands. We show that the coupling between the Tb and this radical is strong enough to give extra resonances in the hysteresis loop that are not observed in the anionic form of the complex. The experimental results are then modeled by diagonalization of a three-spins Hamiltonian. This strong coupling offers perspectives for implementing nuclear and electron spin resonance techniques to perform basic quantum operations in TbPc2.