Heterogeneous optically-detected spin-acoustic resonance in solid-state molecular thin-film
File(s)
Article in press
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Molecular spin systems are promising building blocks for quantum sensing and information processing because their properties can be chemically tuned. Yet compact mechanical platforms for driving molecular spins at room temperature and without applied magnetic fields remain underexplored. Here we show spin–acoustic resonance in pentacene thin films integrated with a high-quality factor surface acoustic wave resonator on lithium niobate. In this heterogeneously integrated platform, the resonant drive is delivered mechanically by the acoustic wave. Using the photo-excited triplet state of pentacene at room temperature, we achieve coherent spin manipulation under zero externally applied magnetic field. The high-quality-factor multimode response enables spectrally selective addressing of triplet transitions near 105 megahertz. Coherent control is evidenced by Rabi oscillations whose frequency increases linearly with the square root of the applied radio-frequency generator power. These results establish acoustic wave-mediated spin control in molecular thin films and benchmark mechanically delivered spin manipulation at room temperature.
Date Issued
2026-07-14
Date Acceptance
2026-07-08
Citation
Communications Physics, 2026
ISSN
2399-3650
Publisher
Nature Portfolio
Journal / Book Title
Communications Physics
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s) 2026. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
License URL
Identifier
10.1038/s42005-026-02738-w
Publication Status
Published online
Date Publish Online
2026-07-14