Publication Date:
2017-03-07
Description:
Author(s): A. L. Khosla, A. C. Jacko, J. Merino, and B. J. Powell Here, the authors show that in molecules there is an emergent spin molecular-orbital coupling (SMOC) that is not merely inherited from the atomic scale. This causes the spin of electrons to become entangled with currents running around the molecule. Molecules that are symmetric only under rotation by 2 π / N , provide a striking example. For odd N there is a ladder of orbital states and SMOC allows the system to climb up or down the ladder, much like spin-orbit coupling in atoms. However, for even N there is a ring of states – SMOC can move the system around in either directions, without ever reaching a minimum or maximum. This is a consequence of the umklapp spin-orbit scattering present in even- N molecules that is precluded in odd- N molecules by time-reversal symmetry. The authors show that SMOC is large in organometallic complexes and explore how synthetic chemistry can be used to control SMOC. Such control has numerous potential applications. [Phys. Rev. B 95, 115109] Published Mon Mar 06, 2017
Keywords:
Electronic structure and strongly correlated systems
Print ISSN:
1098-0121
Electronic ISSN:
1095-3795
Topics:
Physics
Permalink