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Dr. Arnab Banerjee and his colleagues faced a challenge when studying individual cobaltocene molecules using tunneling spectroscopy. The measured spectra displayed confusing signals caused by various excitations, making it difficult to determine which specific process created each measurement signal because theoretical models were unreliable. To solve this, the team placed the molecules on a lead surface that becomes superconducting at very low temperatures and used a scanning tunneling microscope with a metallic tip positioned extremely close to the molecule to allow electrons to cross the tiny gap.

The researchers distinguished between different signals by moving electrons into and out of the molecule while also investigating the effects of a strong magnetic field. These combined approaches revealed whether an excitation was a molecular vibration, an electron spin flip, or an electron hopping between orbitals. The measurements provided not only the energies at which these excitations occur but also determined their spatial distribution with submolecular resolution. Comparisons with elaborate calculations, including density functional theory and its time-dependent extension TDDFT, confirmed the assignment of the signals to specific molecular states.

Dr. Alexander Weismann, a co-author of the study published in Physical Review Letters as an "Editors’ Suggestion," emphasized that molecules are quantum systems requiring low temperatures for control and potential use in quantum computers. The research highlights how physics research at Kiel University explores these quantum phenomena through initiatives like KiNSIS, which focuses on nano, surface, and interface science.