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arXiv · 1807.06823

Electron and Cooper pair transport across a single magnetic molecule explored with a scanning tunneling microscope

J. Brand·S. Gozdzik·N. Néel·J. L. Lado·J. Fernández-Rossier·J. Kröger
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Abstract

A scanning tunneling microscope is used to explore the evolution of electron and Cooper pair transport across single Mn-phthalocyanine molecules adsorbed on Pb(111) from tunneling to contact ranges. Normal-metal as well as superconducting tips give rise to a gradual transition of the Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer energy gap in the tunneling range into a zero-energy resonance close to and at contact. Supporting transport calculations show that in the normal-metal - superconductor junctions this resonance reflects the merging of in-gap Yu-Shiba-Rusinov states as well as the onset of Andreev reflection. For the superconductor - superconductor contacts the zero-energy resonance is rationalized in terms of a finite Josephson current that is carried by phase-dependent Andreev and Yu-Shiba-Rusinov levels.

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J. Brand, S. Gozdzik, N. Néel, J. L. Lado, J. Fernández-Rossier, J. Kröger. 2018-07-18. Electron and Cooper pair transport across a single magnetic molecule explored with a scanning tunneling microscope. https://doi.org/10.1103/physrevb.97.195429

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