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Observation of Tunneling-Assisted Highly Forbidden Single-Photon Transitions in a Ni4 Single-Molecule Magnet.
- Source :
-
Physical Review Letters . 10/28/2016, Vol. 117 Issue 18, p1-1. 1p. - Publication Year :
- 2016
-
Abstract
- Forbidden transitions between energy levels typically involve violation of selection rules imposed by symmetry and/or conservation laws. A nanomagnet tunneling between up and down states violates angular momentum conservation because of broken rotational symmetry. Here we report observations of highly forbidden transitions between spin states in a Ni4 single-molecule magnet in which a single photon can induce the spin to change by several times ℏ, nearly reversing the direction of the spin. These observations are understood as tunneling-assisted transitions that lift the standard Δm=±1 selection rule for single-photon transitions. These transitions are observed at low applied fields, where tunneling is dominated by the molecule's intrinsic anisotropy and the field acts as a perturbation. Such transitions can be exploited to create macroscopic superposition states that are not typically accessible through single-photon Δm=±1 transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- *ENERGY levels (Quantum mechanics)
*QUANTUM states
*SINGLE molecule magnets
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 00319007
- Volume :
- 117
- Issue :
- 18
- Database :
- Academic Search Index
- Journal :
- Physical Review Letters
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 119921180
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.117.187202