IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v13y2022i1d10.1038_s41467-022-29879-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Quantum spins and hybridization in artificially-constructed chains of magnetic adatoms on a superconductor

Author

Listed:
  • Eva Liebhaber

    (Freie Universität Berlin)

  • Lisa M. Rütten

    (Freie Universität Berlin)

  • Gaël Reecht

    (Freie Universität Berlin)

  • Jacob F. Steiner

    (Freie Universität Berlin)

  • Sebastian Rohlf

    (Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel)

  • Kai Rossnagel

    (Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel
    Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY)

  • Felix Oppen

    (Freie Universität Berlin)

  • Katharina J. Franke

    (Freie Universität Berlin)

Abstract

Magnetic adatom chains on surfaces constitute fascinating quantum spin systems. Superconducting substrates suppress interactions with bulk electronic excitations but couple the adatom spins to a chain of subgap Yu-Shiba-Rusinov (YSR) quasiparticles. Using a scanning tunneling microscope, we investigate such correlated spin-fermion systems by constructing Fe chains adatom by adatom on superconducting NbSe2. The adatoms couple entirely via the substrate, retaining their quantum spin nature. In dimers, we observe that the deepest YSR state undergoes a quantum phase transition due to Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida interactions, a distinct signature of quantum spins. Chains exhibit coherent hybridization and band formation of the YSR excitations, indicating ferromagnetic coupling. Longer chains develop separate domains due to coexisting charge-density-wave order of NbSe2. Despite the spin-orbit-coupled substrate, we find no signatures of Majoranas, possibly because quantum spins reduce the parameter range for topological superconductivity. We suggest that adatom chains are versatile systems for investigating correlated-electron physics and its interplay with topological superconductivity.

Suggested Citation

  • Eva Liebhaber & Lisa M. Rütten & Gaël Reecht & Jacob F. Steiner & Sebastian Rohlf & Kai Rossnagel & Felix Oppen & Katharina J. Franke, 2022. "Quantum spins and hybridization in artificially-constructed chains of magnetic adatoms on a superconductor," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-29879-0
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-29879-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-29879-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-022-29879-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lucas Schneider & Philip Beck & Levente Rózsa & Thore Posske & Jens Wiebe & Roland Wiesendanger, 2023. "Probing the topologically trivial nature of end states in antiferromagnetic atomic chains on superconductors," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-9, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-29879-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.