Non-equilibrium current and noise in inelastic tunneling through a magnetic atom

Abstract

In a recent experiment, Hirjibehedin {\it et al.} [Science {\bf 317}, 1199 (2007)] performed inelastic tunneling spectroscopy of a single iron atom absorbed on a nonmagnetic substrate. The observed steps in the differential conductance marked the spin excitation energies. In this Letter, we explain observed nonmonotonicities in the differential conductance by a nonequilibrium population of the atom spin states. Furthermore, we predict super-Poissonian current noise due to this nonequilibrium situation. By introducing an anisotropic relaxation channel we are also able to explain the remarkable absence of nonequilibrium features at certain conductance steps.