Phys.org  September 1, 2020 An international team of researchers (the Netherlands, Chile, Spain) has shown that it is possible to gain independent access to both the spin and orbital degrees of freedom of a single atom, inciting and probing excitations of each moment. By coordinating a single Fe atom atop the nitrogen site of the Cu2N lattice, they created a single-atom system with a large zero-field splitting and an unquenched uniaxial orbital moment that closely approaches the free-atom value. They demonstrated a full reversal of the orbital moment through a single-electron tunneling event between the tip and Fe atom, a […]