Electric Control of Spin Transitions at the Atomic Scale

The direct electric control of spin and magnetic properties has been a longstanding goal in the field of solid state physics, due to the potential for increased efficiency in information processing. This efficiency could further be optimized by bringing spin electric coupling down to the atomic scale by operating on single spin systems. Here, we show direct electric control of spin transitions in single atom spins by employing the relatively new technique electron spin resonance scanning tunneling microscopy (ESR-STM). We find strong linear shifts in the spin resonance on the order of ten times the linewidth of the signal, which we show is due to the electrically induced movement of the atom in the STM junction. Our findings show that the bias voltage in ESR-STM experiments can be used to tune the coupling between spin systems. Furthermore, this tuning parameter opens new avenues for ultrafast control of spins, which leads towards the actualization of quantum information processing on the atomic scale.