An international team of physicists was able to measure the interaction of a nickelocene molecule on a silver substrate with the same molecule at the tip of a scanning tunneling microscope.
The work, published in the journal Science, could have an important impact on the field of quantum information science and magnetic storage devices. By placing a nickelocene molecule (an organometallic compound with the formula Ni (C5H5) 2) at the tip of a tunnel microscope tip, physicists, in fact, have created a nanoscale magnetometer - a device for measuring magnetic field strength.
Scientists tested the work of this nanodevice by interacting with the same nickelocene molecule on a silver substrate. The experiment was carried out at an ultra-low temperature and magnetic induction values from zero to nine tesla. Thus, physicists were able to read information about the magnetic state of one molecule.
The creation of such monomolecular sensors will make it possible to increase the capacity of magnetic storage devices - for example, hard disks. Information on them is stored in the form of magnetized regions that cause an electric current to flow as it passes through the sensor. The smaller the sensor, the less space must be allocated on the disk for storing the same amount of information.