Molecular molds for regularizing Kondo states at atom/metal interfaces
Xiangyang Li, Liang Zhu, Bin Li, Jingcheng Li, Pengfei Gao, Longqing Yang, Aidi Zhao, Yi Luo, Jianguo Hou, Xiao Zheng, Bing Wang, Jinlong Yang
Abstract
Abstract Adsorption of magnetic transition metal atoms on a metal surface leads to the formation of Kondo states at the atom/metal interfaces. However, the significant influence of surrounding environment presents challenges for potential applications. In this work, we realize a novel strategy to regularize the Kondo states by moving a CoPc molecular mold on an Au(111) surface to capture the dispersed Co adatoms. The symmetric and ordered structures of the atom-mold complexes, as well as the strong d π – π bonding between the Co adatoms and conjugated isoindole units, result in highly robust and uniform Kondo states at the Co/Au(111) interfaces. Even more remarkably, the CoPc further enables a fine tuning of Kondo states through the molecular-mold-mediated superexchange interactions between Co adatoms separated by more than 12 Å. Being highly precise, efficient and reproducible, the proposed molecular mold strategy may open a new horizon for the construction and control of nano-sized quantum devices.