doi:10.1038/s41467-023-42436-7engBrede, JensMerino-Díez, NestorBerdonces-Layunta, AlejandroSanz, SofíaDomínguez-Celorrio, AmeliaLobo-Checa, JorgeVilas-Varela, ManuelPeña, DiegoFrederiksen, ThomasPascual, José I.Oteyza, Dimas G. deSerrate, DavidDetecting the spin-polarization of edge states in graphene nanoribbonsART-2023-136897Low dimensional carbon-based materials can show intrinsic magnetism associated to p-electrons in open-shell π-conjugated systems. Chemical design provides atomically precise control of the π-electron cloud, which makes them promising for nanoscale magnetic devices. However, direct verification of their spatially resolved spin-moment remains elusive. Here, we report the spin-polarization of chiral graphene nanoribbons (one-dimensional strips of graphene with alternating zig-zag and arm-chair boundaries), obtained by means of spin-polarized scanning tunnelling microscopy. We extract the energy-dependent spin-moment distribution of spatially extended edge states with π-orbital character, thus beyond localized magnetic moments at radical or defective carbon sites. Guided by mean-field Hubbard calculations, we demonstrate that electron correlations are responsible for the spin-splitting of the electronic structure. Our versatile platform utilizes a ferromagnetic substrate that stabilizes the organic magnetic moments against thermal and quantum fluctuations, while being fully compatible with on-surface synthesis of the rapidly growing class of nanographenes.2023http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/13144010.1038/s41467-023-42436-7http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/131440oai:zaguan.unizar.es:131440info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/AEI/CEX2020-001058-Minfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/AEI/PID2019-107338RB-C61info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/AEI/PID2019-107338RB-C62info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/AEI/PID2019-107338RB-C63info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/AEI/PID2019-107338RB-C64info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA/E12-20Rinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA/E13-20Rinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EC/H2020/863098/EU/SPin Research IN Graphene/SPRINGThis project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No H2020 863098-SPRINGinfo:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/PCI2019-111933-2info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/PID2020-115406GB-I00info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/EUR/MICINN/TED2021-132388B-C43info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MINECO/RED2018-102833-TNature communications 14, 6677 [8 pp.] (2023)byhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/es/info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess