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Updated: Mar 26, 2026

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Published on: October 2, 2016
Spin Manipulation by Creation of Single-Molecule Radical Cations
Sujoy Karan1, Na Li2, Yajie Zhang3
1Institut für Experimentelle und Angewandte Physik, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, 24098 Kiel, Germany.
Abstract:
All-trans-retinoic acid (ReA), a closed-shell organic molecule comprising only C, H, and O atoms, is investigated on a Au(111) substrate using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. In dense arrays single ReA molecules are switched to a number of states, three of which carry a localized spin as evidenced by conductance spectroscopy in high magnetic fields. The spin of a single molecule may be reversibly switched on and off without affecting its neighbors. We suggest that ReA on Au is readily converted to a radical by the abstraction of an electron.
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