arXiv subjects

Diego Soler

Publications and source records attributed to Diego Soler.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2025

Topological Engineering of a Frustrated Antiferromagnetic Triradical in Aza-Triangulene Architectures

Open-shell nanographenes provide a versatile platform to host unconventional magnetic states within their {\pi}-conjugated networks. Particularly appealing are graphene architectures that incorporate spatially separated radicals and tunable interactions, offering a scalable route toward spin-based quantum architectures. Triangulenes are ideal for this purpose, as their radical count scales with size, although strong hybridization prevents individual spin control. Here, we realize a radical reconfiguration strategy that transforms a single-radical aza-triangulene into three topologically protected spin states by covalently extending it with armchair anthene moieties of increasing length. Scanning tunnelling spectroscopy reveals emergent correlated spins forming a frustrated spin trimer whose interaction weakens with anthene length. This trend is captured by multi-reference electronic-structure calculations, which trace a progressive rise in polyradical character driven by the progressive reorganization of the correlated frontier orbitals into three edge-localized natural orbitals. Consequently, the initial single-radical doublet reorganizes into non-interacting edge spins, a molecular analog of a three-qubit quantum register.

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

On-surface Synthesis of a Ferromagnetic Molecular Spin Trimer

Triangulenes are prototypical examples of open-shell nanographenes. Their magnetic properties, arising from the presence of unpaired $\pi$ electrons, can be extensively tuned by modifying their size and shape or by introducing heteroatoms. Different triangulene derivatives have been designed and synthesized in recent years, thanks to the development of on-surface synthesis strategies. Triangulene-based nanostructures with polyradical character, hosting several interacting spin units, can be challenging to fabricate but are particularly interesting for potential applications in carbon-based spintronics. Here, we combine pristine and N-doped triangulenes into a more complex nanographene, \textbf{TTAT}, predicted to possess three unpaired $\pi$ electrons delocalized along the zigzag periphery. We generate the molecule on an Au(111) surface and detect direct fingerprints of multi-radical coupling and high-spin state using scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy. With the support of theoretical calculations, we show that its three radical units are localized at distinct parts of the molecule and couple via symmetric ferromagnetic interactions, which result in a $S=3/2$ ground state, thus demonstrating the realization of a molecular ferromagnetic Heisenberg-like spin trimer

cond-mat.mes-hall↗

arXiv2025

Theory of scanning tunneling spectroscopy beyond one-electron molecular orbitals: can we image molecular orbitals?

The interpretation of experimental spatially resolved scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) maps of close-shell molecules on surfaces is usually interpreted within the framework of oneelectron molecular orbitals. Although this standard practice often gives relatively good agreement with experimental data, it contradicts one of the basic assumptions of quantum mechanics, postulating the impossibility of direct observation of the wavefunction, i.e., individual molecular orbitals. The scanning probe community often considers this contradiction about observing molecular orbitals as a philosophical question rather than a genuine problem. Moreover, in the case of polyradical strongly correlated molecules, the interpretation of STS maps based on one-electron molecular orbitals often fails. Thus, for a precise interpretation of STS maps and their connection to the electronic structure of molecules, a theoretical description, including non-equilibrium tunneling processes going beyond one-electron process, is required. In this contribution, we first show why, in selected cases, it is possible to achieve good agreement with experimental data based on one-electron canonical molecular orbitals and Tersoff-Hamann approximation. Next, we will show that for an accurate interpretation of strongly correlated molecules, it is necessary to describe the process of removing/adding an electron within the formalism of many-electron wavefunctions for the neutral and charged states. This can be accomplished by the concept of so-called Dyson orbitals.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗

arXiv2023

Highly-Entangled Polyradical Nanographene with Coexisting Strong Correlation and Topological Frustration

Open-shell benzenoid polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, known as magnetic nanographenes, exhibit unconventional p-magnetism arising from topological frustration or strong electronic-electron (e-e) interaction. Imprinting multiple strongly entangled spins into polyradical nanographenes creates a major paradigm shift in realizing non-trivial collective quantum behaviors and exotic quantum phases in organic quantum materials. However, conventional design approaches are limited by a single magnetic origin, which can restrict the number of correlated spins or the type of magnetic ordering in open-shell nanographenes. Here, we present a novel design strategy combing topological frustration and e-e interactions to fabricate the largest fully-fused open-shell nanographene reported to date, a 'butterfly'-shaped tetraradical on Au(111). We employed bond-resolved scanning tunneling microscopy and spin excitation spectroscopy to unambiguously resolve the molecular backbone and reveal the strongly correlated open-shell character, respectively. This nanographene contains four unpaired electrons with both ferromagnetic and anti-ferromagnetic interactions, harboring a many-body singlet ground state and strong multi-spin entanglement, which can be well described by many-body calculations. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the nickelocene magnetic probe can sense highly-correlated spin states in nanographene. The ability to imprint and characterize many-body strongly correlated spins in polyradical nanographenes not only presents exciting opportunities for realizing non-trivial quantum magnetism and phases in organic materials but also paves the way toward high-density ultrafast spintronic devices and quantum information technologies.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci↗