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By Prof. José Ignacio Pascual, CIC nanoGUNE, Donostia, Spain

Abstract: Molecular nanostructures can now be built with atom precision by combining chemical routes on the surface of gold, unveiling a new paradigm for studying electronic correlations and spin interactions at the molecular scale. Extend these routes to superconductors would open the door of novel methods for addressing these molecular states individually. But superconductors don’t like molecules. Here we show how a thin gold film grown on niobium provides an ideal surface that supports both on-surface chemistry and superconducting correlations. On this platform, chains of magnetic triangulene units retain their topological edge states, whose interaction with the superconductor switches with the odd or even length of the chain. The work opens a route to studying, with atomic precision, how molecular magnetism, topology and superconductivity interact in the same system.

Bio: José Ignacio (Nacho) Pascual is since 2012 an Ikerbasque Research Professor at CIC nanoGUNE. His research explores quantum phenomena at the atomic scale using scanning probe microscopies, with particular interest in unconventional superconductivity, molecular magnetism, and atomically precise graphene nanostructures.

Nacho earned his PhD in Physical Sciences from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (1998) and developed his career across leading research institutions including the Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, ICMAB-CSIC, and the Freie Universität Berlin, where he was appointed Professor of Physics in 2008. He joined nanoGUNE in 2012 and currently leads a team of 12 researchers.

His scientific work spans:

Unconventional superconductivity at the atomic scale, studying how magnetic atoms and molecules shape superconducting ground states.
On-surface synthesis of atomically precise graphene nanostructures and nanoribbons.
Electron transport through individual molecules.
Growth and quantum properties of two-dimensional materials.
He is currently Principal Investigator of the ERC Advanced Grant “CONSPIRA”, focused on molecular magnetism for quantum technologies, and has coordinated multiple European, national, and regional research projects. 

Profiles:

Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=a5jtJO4AAAAJ
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7152-4747
Web of Science ResearcherID: N-3102-2016

Hosted by Prof. Aitor Mugarza, ICREA Research and leader of the Atomic Manipulation and Spectroscopy Group at ICN2.