Multiconfigurational Ground State of a Diradicaloid Characterized at the Atomic Scale
We report the tip-induced generation and scanning probe characterization of a singlet diradicaloid, consisting of two phenalenyl units connected by an sp-hybridized C<sub>4</sub> chain on an ultrathin insulating NaCl surface. The bond-order contrast along the C<sub>4</sub> chain measured by atomic force microscopy and mapping of charge-state transitions by scanning tunneling microscopy, in conjunction with multiconfigurational calculations, reveal that the molecule exhibits a many-body ground state. Our study experimentally demonstrates the manifestation of strong electronic correlations in the geometric and electronic structures of a single molecule.
Authors
- Andres Ortega‐Guerrero (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0065-0623)
- Michal Jurı́ček (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5595-431X)
- Lara Tejerina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1000-6310)
- Nils Krane (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-6970-0846)
- Gonçalo Catarina (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7341-0495)
- Leo Groß (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5337-4159)
- Elia Turco (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6437-9334)
- Shantanu Mishra (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2900-4203)
Institutions
- University of Zurich (CH)
- IBM Research - Zurich (CH)
- Chalmers University of Technology (SE)
- Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology (CH)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of the American Chemical Society
- Published
- 2025-10-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.5c13039
- Primary Topic
- Topological Materials and Phenomena
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00