Chemical Way to Tune Spin Excitation of Magnetic Atoms in Sierpinski Triangles

Various Sierpin ' ski triangles (STs) have been constructed on surfaces, but minimal research efforts focus on their properties. In this work, three different types of STs are prepared with iron atoms as metal centers, and 4,4 ''-dicyano-1,1':3',1 ''-terphenyl, 1,3-bis(4-pyridyl)-benzene, and 4,4 ''-dihydroxy-1,1':3',1 ''-terphenyl as organic ligands, respectively. The spin excitation of magnetic Fe atoms in STs is investigated by low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy. In the STs consisting of Fe atoms and 4,4 ''-dihydroxy-1,1':3',1 ''-terphenyl molecules, spin excitation of Fe atoms is observed in the spectra measured by scanning tunneling spectroscopy. For the other two ligands, the related spin excitation has not been found in spectra. Density functional theory calculations explain the excitation mechanism of Fe atoms in STs. The results pave the way for tuning spin excitation of magnetic atoms using ligand molecules with various functional groups.

Automated summary

This study focuses on the spin excitation of magnetic Fe atoms in various Sierpin'ski triangles (STs) with different organic ligands. The results show that spin excitation of Fe atoms is observed in spectra when using certain ligands, paving the way for further research on tuning spin excitation using different functional groups.