Search

We investigate theoretically and experimentally the static magnetic properties of single crystals of the molecular-based Single-Chain Magnet (SCM) of formula [Dy(hfac)$_{3}$NIT(C$_{6}$H$_{4}$OPh)]$_{\infty}$ comprising alternating Dy$^{3+}$ and organic radicals. A peculiar inversion between maxima and minima in the angular dependence of the magnetic molar susceptibility $\chi_{M}$ occurs on increasing temperature. Using information regarding the monomeric building block as well as an {\it ab initio} estimation of the magnetic anisotropy of the Dy$^{3+}$ ion, this anisotropy-inversion phenomenon can be assigned to weak one-dimensional ferromagnetism along the chain axis. This indicates that antiferromagnetic next-nearest-neighbor interactions between Dy$^{3+}$ ions dominate, despite the large Dy-Dy separation, over the nearest-neighbor interactions between the radicals and the Dy$^{3+}$ ions. Measurements of the field dependence of the magnetization, both along and perpendicularly to the chain, and of the angular dependence of $\chi_{M}$ in a strong magnetic field confirm such an interpretation. Transfer matrix simulations of the experimental measurements are performed using a classical one-dimensional spin model with antiferromagnetic Heisenberg exchange interaction and non-collinear uniaxial single-ion anisotropies favoring a canted antiferromagnetic spin arrangement, with a net magnetic moment along the chain axis. The fine agreement obtained with experimental data provides estimates of the Hamiltonian parameters, essential for further study of the dynamics of rare-earths based molecular chains., Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures

The use of magnetic nanowires as memory units is made possible by the exponential divergence of the characteristic time for magnetization reversal at low temperature, but the slow relaxation makes the manipulation of the frozen magnetic states difficult. We suggest that finite-size segments can show a fast switching if collective reversal of the spins is taken into account. This mechanism gives rise at low temperatures to a scaling law for the dynamic susceptibility that has been experimentally observed for the dilute molecular chain Co(hfac)2NitPhOMe. These results suggest a possible way of engineering nanowires for fast switching of the magnetization., Comment: 9 pages, 3 figures, 20 references

The problem of finite size effects in s=1/2 Ising systems showing slow dynamics of the magnetization is investigated introducing diamagnetic impurities in a Co$^{2+}$-radical chain. The static magnetic properties have been measured and analyzed considering the peculiarities induced by the ferrimagnetic character of the compound. The dynamic susceptibility shows that an Arrhenius law is observed with the same energy barrier for the pure and the doped compounds while the prefactor decreases, as theoretically predicted. Multiple spins reversal has also been investigated., Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures. Physical Review Letters, accepted for publication

Low temperature specific heat $C(T)$ and zero-field muon spin resonance ($\mu^+$SR) measurements were performed in Gd(hfac)$_3$NITiPr, a quasi one-dimensional molecular magnet with competing nearest neighbor and next-nearest neighbor intrachain exchange interactions. The specific heat data exhibit a $\lambda$-peak at $T_0$=2.08$\pm$0.01K that disappears upon the application of a 5 Tesla magnetic field. Conversely, the $\mu^+$SR data do not present any anomaly at $T\approx 2$ K, proving the lack of divergence of the two-spin correlation function as required for usual three-dimensional (3D) long range helical order. Moreover, no muon spin precession can be evinced from the $\mu^+$SR asimmetry curves, thus excluding the presence of a long range ordered magnetic lattice. These results provide indications for a low $T$ phase where chiral order is established in absence of long range helical order., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

The magnetic properties of the molecular cluster Mn12Ac are due to the four Mn3+ ions which have spins S=3/2 and the eight Mn4+ ions with spins S=2. These spins are coupled by superexchange mechanism. We determine the four exchange couplings assuming a Heisenberg-type interaction between the ions. We use exact diagonalization of the spin Hamiltonian by a Lanczos algorithm and we adjust the couplings to reproduce the magnetization curve of Mn12Ac. We also impose the constraint of reproducing a gap of 35K between a S=10 ground state and a first excited state with S=9. We predict that there is an excited level with S=8 at 37K above the ground state, only slightly above the S=9 excited state which lies at 35K and the next excited state is a S=9 multiplet at 67K above the S=10 ground state., Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Phys Rev B, corrected a misTeX: values of J1, J2 have changed, refs updated

The problem of the role of transverse fields in Mn12-acetate, a molecular nanomagnet, is still open. We present structural evidences that the disorder of the acetic acid of crystallization indices sizeable distortion of the Mn(III) sites, giving rise to six different isomers, four of them with symmetry lower than tetragonal. Using a ligand field approach the effect of the structure modifications on the second order transverse magnetic anisotropy, forbidden in tetragonal symmetry, has been evaluated. The order of magnitude of the quadratic transverse anisotropies well agree with the values derived by the analysis of the field sweep dependence of the hysteresis loops performed by Mertes et al. (Phys. Rev. Lett 87, 227205 (2001)) and allows to better simulate the EPR spectra., Comment: submitted to Physical Review Letters 8 pages, 2 tables, 4 figures, 19 references

The slow dynamics (10^-6 s - 10^4 s) of the magnetization in the paramagnetic phase, predicted by Glauber for 1d Ising ferromagnets, has been observed with ac susceptibility and SQUID magnetometry measurements in a molecular chain comprising alternating Co{2+} spins and organic radical spins strongly antiferromagnetically coupled. An Arrhenius behavior with activation energy Delta=152 K has been observed for ten decades of relaxation time and found to be consistent with the Glauber model. We have extended this model to take into account the ferrimagnetic nature of the chain as well as its helicoidal structure., Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures (low resolution), 16 references. Submitted to Physical Review Letters

The synthesis, crystal structure and magnetic characterization of a high spin cluster comprising eight iron ions, are presented in this contribution. The cluster has formula [(tacn)6Fe8O2(OH)12Br4.3(ClO4)3.7]6H2O, (Fe8PCL) where tacn is the organic ligand 1,4,7-triazacyclononane. It can be considered a derivative of Fe8Br8, a cluster whose low temperature dynamics of the magnetization has been deeply investigated, where four of the bromide ions have been replaced by perchlorate anions. The structure of the central core of the two molecules, [Fe8O(OH)12(tacn)6]8+, is essentially the same, but Fe8PCL has a higher symmetry (Fe8Br8 crystallizes in the acentric P1 space group, while Fe8PCL crystallizes in the P21/c space group, monoclinic). The magnetic properties of Fe8PCL suggest it is very similar to Fe8Br having a S=10 ground state as well. The zero field splitting parameters were accurately determined by HF-EPR measurements. The two clusters have similar axial anisotropy but Fe8PCL has a larger transverse anisotropy. Ac susceptibility measurements revealed the cluster behaves like a superparamagnetic particle. However, due to the occurrence of large terms in the transverse anisotropy, the temperature dependence of the relaxation time can not be reproduced by a simple Arrhenius law. As observed in Fe8Br8, below 350 mK the relaxation time becomes temperature independent, indicating that a pure tunneling regime is attained. The comparison of the tunneling rate in the two clusters shows that in the perchlorate derivative the relaxation process is 35 times faster. The observed ratio of the tunneling rates is in reasonable agreement with that calculated from the tunneling splitting, i.e. the energy difference between the two almost degenerate lowest levels Ms = +/-10, in the two clusters., Comment: To be published on ChemPhysChem 18 pages, 10 figures

We reply to the comment of Chudnovsky and Garanin on the tunneling rate in Mn_{12}.

The Landau Zener method allows to measure very small tunnel splittings \Delta in molecular clusters Fe_8. The observed oscillations of \Delta as a function of the magnetic field applied along the hard anisotropy axis are explained in terms of topological quantum interference of two tunnel paths of opposite windings. Studies of the temperature dependence of the Landau Zener transition rate P gives access to the topological quantum interference between exited spin levels. The influence of nuclear spins is demonstrated by comparing P of the standard Fe_8 sample with two isotopically substituted samples. The need of a generalized Landau Zener transition rate theory is shown., Comment: 5 pages, 6 figures

The strong influence of nuclear spins on resonant quantum tunneling in the molecular cluster Fe_8 is demonstrated for the first time by comparing the relaxation rate of the standard Fe_8 sample with two isotopic modified samples: (i) 56_Fe is replaced by 57_Fe, and (ii) a fraction of 1_H is replaced by 2_H. By using a recently developed "hole digging" method, we measured an intrinsic broadening which is driven by the hyperfine fields. Our measurements are in good agreement with numerical hyperfine calculations. For T > 1.5 K, the influence of nuclear spins on the relaxation rate is less important, suggesting that spin-phonon coupling dominates the relaxation rate at higher temperature., Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures

We present details about an experimental method based on the Landau Zener model which allows to measure very small tunnel splittings $\Delta$ in molecular clusters Fe8. The measurements are performed with an array of micro-SQUIDs. The observed oscillations of Delta as a function of the magnetic field applied along the hard anisotropy axis are explained in terms of topological quantum interference of two tunnel paths of opposite windings. Transitions between M = -S and (S - n), with n even or odd, revealed a parity (symmetry) effect which is analogous to the suppression of tunneling predicted for half integer spins. This observation is the first direct evidence of the topological part of the quantum spin phase (Berry phase) in a magnetic system. The influence of intermolecular dipole interactions on the measured tunnel splittings $\Delta$ are shown., Comment: 6 pages, 14 figures, conference proceedings of MMM 1999, San Jose, 15-18 Nov., session number CD-01

Below 360 mK, Fe8 magnetic molecular clusters are in the pure quantum relaxation regime. We showed recently that the predicted ``square-root time'' relaxation is obeyed, allowing us to develop a new method for watching the evolution of the distribution of molecular spin states in the sample. We measured the distribution P(H) of molecules which are in resonance at the applied field H. Tunnelling initially causes rapid transitions of molecules, thereby ``digging a hole'' in P(H). For small initial magnetisation values, the hole width shows an intrinsic broadening which may be due to nuclear spins. We present here hole digging measurements in the thermal activated regime which may allow to study the effect of spin-phonon coupling., Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, conference proceedings of LT22 (Helsinki, Finland, August 4-11, 1999)

The Landau Zener model has recently been used to measure very small tunnel splittings in molecular clusters of Fe8, which at low temperature behaves like a nanomagnet with a spin ground state of S = 10. The observed oscillations of the tunnel splittings as a function of the magnetic field applied along the hard anisotropy axis are due to topological quantum interference of two tunnel paths of opposite windings. Transitions between quantum numbers M = -S and (S - n), with n even or odd, revealed a parity effect which is analogous to the suppression of tunnelling predicted for half integer spins. This observation is the first direct evidence of the topological part of the quantum spin phase (Berry or Haldane phase) in a magnetic system. We show here that the quantum interference can also be measured by ac susceptibility measurements in the thermal activated regime., Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, conference proceedings of LT22 (Helsinki, Finland, August 4-11, 1999

The proton nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate 1/T1 has been measured as a function of temperature and magnetic field (up to 15 T) in the molecular magnetic ring Fe10. Striking enhancement of 1/T1 is observed around magnetic field values corresponding to a crossing between the ground state and the excited states of the molecule. We propose that this is due to a cross-relaxation effect between the nuclear Zeeman reservoir and the reservoir of the Zeeman levels of the molecule. This effect provides a powerful tool to investigate quantum dynamical phenomena at level crossing., Comment: Four pages, to appear in Phys.Rev.Lett

Current theories still fail to give a satisfactory explanation of the observed quantum phenomena in the relaxation of the magnetisation of the molecular cluster Mn12 acetate. In the very low temperature regime, Prokof'ev and Stamp recently proposed that slowly changing dipolar fields and rapidly fluctuating hyperfine fields play a major role in the tunnelling process. By means of a faster relaxing minor species of Mn12ac and a new experimental 'hole digging' method, we measured the intrinsic line width broadening due to local fluctuating fields, and found strong evidence for the influence of nuclear spins on resonance tunnelling at very low temperatures (0.04 - 0.3K). At higher temperature (1.5 - 4K), we observed a homogeneous line width broadening of the resonance transitions being in agreement with a recent calculation of Leuenberger and Loss., Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Europhys. Lett

EPR spectra have been recorded in very high field, up to 25T, and at high frequency, up to 525 GHz, on a polycristalline sample of Mn12ac (see paper for detailed formula), the first example of molecular cluster behaving like a nanomagnet. The simulation of the spectra has provided an accurate determination of the parameters of the spin hamiltonian (see paper for formula and values of the various parameters). The presence of the fourth order term in the total spin justifies the irregularities in the spacing of the jumps, recently observed in the hysteresis loop of Mn12ac and attributed to acceleration of the relaxation of the magnetization due to Quantum Tunneling between degenerate M states of the ground S=10 multiplet of the cluster. The term in (S_+^4 + S_-^4) is responsible of the transverse magnetic anisotropy and plays a crucial role in the mechanism of Quantum Tunneling. The HF-EPR spectra have for the first time evidenced its presence and quantified it., Comment: Phys.Rev.B, in press ; 16 pages, Figures will follow when put in a format appropriate for this site