title: Magnetic fingerprint of individual Fe4 molecular magnets under compression by a scanning tunnelling microscope.
abstract: Single-molecule magnets (SMMs) present a promising avenue to develop spintronic technologies. Addressing individual molecules with electrical leads in SMM-based spintronic devices remains a ubiquitous challenge: interactions with metallic electrodes can drastically modify the SMM's properties by charge transfer or through changes in the molecular structure. Here, we probe electrical transport through individual Fe4 SMMs using a scanning tunnelling microscope at 0.5 K. Correlation of topographic and spectroscopic information permits identification of the spin excitation fingerprint of intact Fe4 molecules. Building from this, we find that the exchange coupling strength within the molecule's magnetic core is significantly enhanced. First-principles calculations support the conclusion that this is the result of confinement of the molecule in the two-contact junction formed by the microscope tip and the sample surface.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.|Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Jacob A J
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Burgess
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.|Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.|Department of Chemistry 'Ugo Schiff', University of Florence &INSTM RU of Florence, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Malavolti
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry 'Ugo Schiff', University of Florence &INSTM RU of Florence, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Valeria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Lanzilotto
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry 'Ugo Schiff', University of Florence &INSTM RU of Florence, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7549-2124
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mannini
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.|Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Shichao
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yan
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry 'Ugo Schiff', University of Florence &INSTM RU of Florence, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Silviya
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ninova
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry 'Ugo Schiff', University of Florence &INSTM RU of Florence, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Federico
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4752-0495
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Totti
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.|Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rolf-Pissarczyk
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical and Geological Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia &INSTM RU of Modena and Reggio Emilia, 41125 Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cornia
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry 'Ugo Schiff', University of Florence &INSTM RU of Florence, 50019 Sesto Fiorentino, Italy.
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sessoli
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter, 22761 Hamburg, Germany.|Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany.
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Loth