Antiferromagnetic coupling of Cr-porphyrin to a bare Co substrate

Abstract

We report the discovery of an antiferromagnetic coupling of the magnetic moment of chromium(II) tetraphenyl-porphyrin (CrTPP) molecules to the magnetization of the clean ferromagnetic Co(001) substrate. We assign this unusual molecule-substrate exchange coupling to the less than half-filled chromium 3d orbitals interacting with Co valence band electrons via porphyrin-ligand molecular orbitals. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and scanning tunneling microscopy are combined with DFT+U calculations and provide evidence for a surprising type of antiferromagnetic 90â indirect magnetic exchange coupling.