We address electron spin resonance of single magnetic moments in a tunnel junction using time-dependent electric fields and spin-polarized current. We show that the tunneling current directly depends on the local magnetic moment and that the frequency of the external electric field mixes with the characteristic Larmor frequency of the local spin. The importance of the spin-polarized current induced anisotropy fields acting on the local spin moment is, moreover, demonstrated. Our proposed model thus explains the absence of an electron spin resonance for a half integer spin, in contrast with the strong signal observed for an integer spin.

The lifetime of the meta-stable hydrogen–antihydrogen molecule in various vibrational states is calculated. The partial lifetime with respect to the proton–antiproton annihilation is obtained from complex eigenvalues which arise upon inclusion of the strong force in the adiabatic formulation of the molecular decay problem. We study the influence of the strong force, which causes annihilation, on the transition probability for decay via Coulombic rearrangement to protonium and positronium.

We address the tunneling conductance and spin inelastic tunneling spectroscopy of localized paramagnetic moments in a superconducting environment, pertaining to recent measurements on Fe-octaethylporphyrinchloride using superconducting scanning tunneling microscopy. We demonstrate that the Cooper pair correlations in the tip and substrate generate a finite uniaxial anisotropy field acting on the local spin moment, and we argue that this field may be a source for the observed changes in the conductance spectrum for decreasing distance between the scanning tunneling tip and the local magnetic moment. We make a side-by-side comparison between the superconductor-superconductor junction and normal-metal-superconductor junction, and find qualitative agreement between the two setups while quantitative differences become explicit. When simulating the effects of electron pumping, we obtain additional peaks in the conductance spectrum that can be attributed to excitations between higher-energy spin states. The transverse anisotropy field couples basis states of the local spin which opens for transitions between spin states that are otherwise forbidden by conservation of angular momentum. Finally, we explore the influences of temperature, which tend to enable in-gap transitions, and an external magnetic field, which enables deeper studies of the spin excitation spectrum. We especially notice the appearance of a low and high excitation peak on each side of the main coherence peak as an imprint of transitions between the Zeeman split ground states.

The recent experimental observations of designer Dirac Fermions and topological phases in molecular graphene are addressed theoretically. Using scattering theory we calculate the electronic structure of finite lattices of scattering centers dual to the honeycomb lattice. In good agreement with experimental observations, we obtain a V-shaped electron density of states around the Fermi energy. By varying the lattice parameter we simulate electron and hole doping of the structure and by adding and removing scattering centers we simulate respectively vacancy and impurity defects. Specifically for the vacancy defect we verify the emergence of a sharp resonance near the Fermi energy for increasing strength of the scattering potential.

Recent experimental conductance measurements performed on paramagnetic molecular adsorbates on a superconducting surface, using superconducting scanning tunneling microscopy techniques, are theoretically investigated. For low temperatures, we demonstrate that tunneling current assisted excitations of the local magnetic moment cannot occur for voltage biases smaller than the superconducting gap of the scanning tunneling microscope. The magnetic moment is only excited for voltages corresponding to the sum of the superconducting gap and the spin excitation energies. In excellent agreement with experiment, we show that pumping into higher excitations give additional current signatures by accumulation of density in the lower ones. Using external magnetic fields, we Zeeman split possible degeneracy and thereby resolve all excitations comprised in the magnetic moment. Detecting and protecting information stored in single spin structures have become one of the latest routes to envisage quantum computation. A major challenge is to find suitable systems where the spin excitations have life times long enough to sustain qubit operations. Single spins in contact with a metal surface have short life times 1-3 , in the order of ps or less, due to exchange of energy and angular momentum with the itinerant surface electrons. While this problem was partly overcome by introducing a separating layer, e.g., CuO, BN, or Cu 2 N 4-7 , the coherence times remain in the order of hundreds of ps. The separating layers cause the formation of an effective band gap in the substrate which results in an increased coherence time.