title: Spin polarization of the split Kondo state.
abstract: Spin-resolved scanning tunneling microscopy is employed to quantitatively determine the spin polarization of the magnetic field-split Kondo state. Tunneling conductance spectra of a Kondo-screened magnetic atom are evaluated within a simple model taking into account inelastic tunneling due to spin excitations and two Kondo peaks positioned symmetrically around the Fermi energy. We fit the spin state of the Kondo-screened atom with a spin Hamiltonian independent of the Kondo effect and account for Zeeman splitting of the Kondo peak in the magnetic field. We find that the width and the height of the Kondo peaks scales with the Zeeman energy. Our observations are consistent with full spin polarization of the Kondo peaks, i.e., a majority spin peak below the Fermi energy and a minority spin peak above.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of Hamburg, 20355 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: von Bergmann
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck Institute for Solid State Research, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ternes
authors.affiliation: Max-Planck Institute for Solid State Research, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.|Max-Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Loth
authors.affiliation: IBM Research Division, Almaden Research Center, San Jose, California 95120, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Lutz
authors.affiliation: IBM Research Division, Almaden Research Center, San Jose, California 95120, USA.
authors.forename: Andreas J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Heinrich