arXiv subjects

Sebastian Stepanow

Publications and source records attributed to Sebastian Stepanow.

9 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Coherent and Dissipative Spin Torques in Quantum Dots: A Unified Framework for Quantum Spin Dynamics

The manipulation of single spins through spin-polarized tunneling opens new routes for quantum control at the atomic scale. We present a theoretical framework describing spin-transfer, spin torques and spin resonance in molecular quantum dots weakly coupled to magnetic electrodes. By deriving a Lindblad master equation from microscopic tunneling processes, we capture both coherent exchange interactions and dissipative spin torque effects within a unified approach. We analyze how charge transport through localized orbitals influences spin dynamics and show that modulating the tunneling rates in time can induce electron spin resonance. This framework is further extended to coupled spin systems, revealing how spin coherence and entanglement respond to local spin torques and highlighting sources of transport-driven decoherence. Our results provide a general model to interpret spin-resolved tunneling experiments and extend classical spin torque concepts into the quantum regime.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Intermediate diffusive-ballistic electron conduction around mesoscopic defects in graphene

Non-diffusive effects in charge transport become relevant as device sizes and features become comparable to the electronic mean free path. As a model system, we investigate the electric transport around mesoscopic defects in graphene with scanning tunneling potentiometry. Diffusive and ballistic contributions to the scattering dipole are probed by simultaneously resolving the nanoscale topography of pits in the graphene layer and measuring the local electrochemical potential in the surrounding area. We find evidence of transport in the intermediate regime between the diffusive and ballistic limits, such that the magnitude of the electrochemical potential around the defects is substantially underestimated by diffusive models. Our experiments and modeling are supported by lattice Boltzmann simulations, which highlight the importance of the ratio between defect size and mean free path in the intermediate transport regime. The magnitude of the scattering dipole depends on the shape of the pits in both the ballistic and diffusive transport modes. Remarkably, ballistic contributions to the electron transport are found at feature sizes larger than the mean free path and rapidly increase at lower sizes, having a noticeable impact already at mesoscopic length scales.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2024

Spin torque driven electron paramagnetic resonance of a single spin in a pentacene molecule

Control over quantum systems is typically achieved by time-dependent electric or magnetic fields. Alternatively, electronic spins can be controlled by spin-polarized currents. Here we demonstrate coherent driving of a single spin by a radiofrequency spin-polarized current injected from the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope into an organic molecule. With the excitation of electron paramagnetic resonance, we established dynamic control of single spins by spin torque using a local electric current. In addition our work highlights the dissipative action of the spin-transfer torque, in contrast to the nondissipative action of the magnetic field, which allows for the manipulation of individual spins based on controlled decoherence.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2022

Electron paramagnetic resonance of alkali metal atoms and dimers on ultrathin MgO

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) can provide unique insight into the chemical structure and magnetic properties of dopants in oxide and semiconducting materials that are of interest for applications in electronics, catalysis, and quantum sensing. Here, we demonstrate that EPR in combination with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) allows for probing the bonding and charge state of alkali metal atoms on an ultrathin magnesium oxide layer on a Ag substrate. We observe a magnetic moment of $1\mu_\mathrm{B}$ for Li$_2$, LiNa, and Na$_2$ dimers corresponding to spin radicals with a charge state of $+1e$. Single alkali atoms have the same charge state and no magnetic moment. The ionization of the adsorbates is attributed to charge transfer through the oxide to the metal substrate. Our work highlights the potential of EPR-STM to provide insight into dopant atoms that are relevant for the control of the electrical properties of surfaces and nanodevices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2021

Accurate measurement of atomic magnetic moments by minimizing the tip magnetic field in STM-based electron paramagnetic resonance

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) performed with a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) allows for probing the spin excitation of single atomic species with MHz energy resolution. One of the basic applications of conventional EPR is the precise determination of magnetic moments. However, in an STM, the local magnetic fields of the spin-polarized tip can introduce systematic errors in the measurement of the magnetic moments by EPR. We propose to solve this issue by finding tip-sample distances at which the EPR resonance shift caused by the magnetic field of the tip is minimized. To this end, we measure the dependence of the resonance field on the tip-sample distance at different radiofrequencies and identify specific distances for which the true magnetic moment is found. Additionally, we show that the tip's influence can be averaged out by using magnetically bistable tips, which provide a complementary method to accurately measure the magnetic moment of surface atoms using EPR-STM.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2020

Longitudinal and transverse electron paramagnetic resonance in a scanning tunneling microscope

Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy is widely employed to characterize paramagnetic complexes. Recently, EPR combined with scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) achieved single-spin sensitivity with sub-angstrom spatial resolution. The excitation mechanism of EPR in STM, however, is broadly debated, raising concerns about widespread application of this technique. Here, we present an extensive experimental study and modelling of EPR-STM of Fe and hydrogenated Ti atoms on an MgO surface. Our results support a piezoelectric coupling mechanism, in which the EPR species oscillate adiabatically in the inhomogeneous magnetic field of the STM tip. An analysis based on Bloch equations combined with atomic-multiplet calculations identifies different EPR driving forces. Specifically, transverse magnetic-field gradients drive the spin-1/2 hydrogenated Ti, whereas longitudinal magnetic-field gradients drive the spin-2 Fe. Additionally, our results highlight the potential of piezoelectric coupling to induce electric dipole moments, thereby broadening the scope of EPR-STM to nonpolar species and nonlinear excitation schemes.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2018

Magnetic properties of metal-organic coordination networks based on 3d transition metal atoms

The magnetic anisotropy and exchange coupling between spins localized at the positions of 3d transition metal atoms forming two-dimensional metal-organic coordination networks (MOCNs) grown on the Au(111) metal surface are studied. In particular, we consider MOCNs made of Ni or Mn metal centers linked by TCNQ (7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane) organic ligands, which form rectangular networks with 1:1 stoichiometry. Based on the analysis of X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) data taken at T= 2.5 K, we find that Ni atoms in the Ni-TCNQ MOCNs are coupled ferromagnetically and do not show any significant magnetic anisotropy, while Mn atoms in the Mn-TCNQ MOCNs are coupled antiferromagnetically and do show a weak magnetic anisotropy with in-planemagnetization. We explain these observations using both amodelHamiltonian based on mean-fieldWeiss theory and density functional theory calculations that include spin-orbit coupling. Our main conclusion is that the antiferromagnetic coupling between Mn spins and the in-plane magnetization of the Mn spins can be explained neglecting effects due to the presence of the Au(111) surface, while for Ni-TCNQ the metal surface plays a role in determining the absence of magnetic anisotropy in the system.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2014

Modeling Ferro- and Antiferromagnetic Interactions in Metal-Organic Coordination Networks

Magnetization curves of two rectangular metal-organic coordination networks formed by the organic ligand TCNQ (7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane) and two different (Mn and Ni) 3d transition metal atoms [M(3d)] show marked differences that are explained using first principles density functional theory and model calculations. We find that the existence of a weakly dispersive hybrid band with M(3d) and TCNQ character crossing the Fermi level is determinant for the appearance of ferromagnetic coupling between metal centers, as it is the case of the metallic system Ni-TCNQ but not of the insulating system Mn-TCNQ. The spin magnetic moment localized at the Ni atoms induces a significant spin polarization in the organic molecule; the corresponding spin density being delocalized along the whole system. The exchange interaction between localized spins at Ni centers and the itinerant spin density is ferromagnetic. Based on two different model Hamiltonians, we estimate the strength of exchange couplings between magnetic atoms for both Ni- and Mn-TCNQ networks that results in weak ferromagnetic and very weak antiferromagnetic correlations for Ni- and Mn-TCNQ networks, respectively.

physics.chem-ph↗

arXiv2009

Hopf algebras and the logarithm of the S-transform in free probability

Let k be a positive integer and let G_k denote the set of non-commutative k-variable distributions μsuch that μ(X_1) = ... = μ(X_k) = 1. G_k is a group under the operation of free multiplicative convolution. We identify G_k as the group of characters of a certain Hopf algebra Y_k. Then, by using the log map from characters to infinitesimal characters of Y_k, we introduce a transform LS_μ for distributions μin G_k. The main property of the LS-transform is that it linearizes commuting products in G_k. For μin G_k, the transform LS_μ is a power series in k non-commuting indeterminates; its coefficients can be computed from the coefficients of the R-transform of μby using summations over chains in the lattices NC(n) of non-crossing partitions. In the particular case k=1 one has that Y_1 is naturally isomorphic to the Hopf algebra Sym of symmetric functions, and that the LS-transform is very closely related to the logarithm of the S-transform of Voiculescu, by the formula LS(z) = - z log S(z). In this case the group G_1 can be identified as the group of characters of Sym, in such a way that the S-transform, its reciprocal 1/S and its logarithm log S relate in a natural sense to the sequences of complete, elementary and respectively power sum symmetric functions.

math.OA↗