Certifying entanglement of spins on surfaces using ESR-STM

We propose a protocol to certify the presence of entanglement in artificial on-surface atomic and molecular spin arrays using electron spin resonance carried by scanning tunnel microscopy (ESR-STM). We first generalize the theorem that relates global spin susceptibility as an entanglement witness to the case of anisotropic Zeeman interactions, relevant for surfaces. We then propose a method to measure the spin susceptibilities of surface-spin arrays combining ESR-STM with atomic manipulation. Our calculations show that entanglement can be certified in antiferromagnetically coupled spin dimers and trimers with state-of-the-art ESR-STM magnetometry.

Automated summary

In this paper, we propose a protocol to certify the existence of entanglement in artificial on-surface atomic and molecular spin arrays using electron spin resonance carried by scanning tunnel microscopy (ESR-STM). By combining ESR-STM with atomic manipulation, the spin susceptibilities of surface-spin arrays can be measured, enabling the certification of entanglement.