Probing spin fractionalization with ESR-STM absolute magnetometry

Abstract

The emergence of effective $S=1/2$ spins at the edges of $S=1$ Haldane spin chains is one of the simplest examples of fractionalization. Whereas there is indirect evidence of this phenomenon, direct measurement of the magnetic moment of an individual edge spin remains to be done. Here we show how scanning tunnel microscopy electron-spin resonance (ESR-STM) can be used to map the stray field created by the fractional $S=1/2$ edge spin and we propose efficient methods to invert the Biot-Savart equation, obtaining the edge magnetization map. This permits one to determine unambiguously the two outstanding emergent properties of fractional degrees of freedom, namely, their fractional magnetic moment and their localization length $\xi$.