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Updated: Sep 3, 2025

High-Temperature and High-Pressure In situ Magic Angle Spinning Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
Published on: October 9, 2020
Extending the Spin Excitation Lifetime of a Magnetic Molecule on a Proximitized Superconductor
Katerina Vaxevani1, Jingcheng Li1,2, Stefano Trivini1
1CIC nanoGUNE-BRTA, 20018 Donostia-San Sebastián, Spain.
Abstract:
Molecular spins on surfaces potentially used in quantum information processing and data storage require long spin excitation lifetimes. Normally, coupling of the molecular spin with the conduction electrons of metallic surfaces causes fast relaxation of spin excitations. However, the presence of superconducting pairing effects in the substrate can protect the excited spin from decaying. In this work, we show that a proximity-induced superconducting gold film can sustain spin excitations of a FeTPP-Cl molecule for more than 80 ns. This long value was determined by studying inelastic spin excitations of the S = 5/2 multiplet of FeTPP-Cl on Au films over V(100) using scanning tunneling spectroscopy. The spin lifetime decreases with increasing film thickness, along with the decrease of the effective superconducting gap. Our results elucidate the use of proximitized gold electrodes for addressing quantum spins on surfaces, envisioning new routes for tuning the value of their spin lifetime.
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