RESEARCH
(1) Probing Magnetism of Metal Complexes
Many transition metal and lanthanide complexes have unpaired electrons, making their molecules magnetic. Recently, molecular magnetism has been actively studied as many such complexes are SMMs and qubit (quantum bit) candidates. SMMs may be used as new data storage materials with much larger capacities than the current digital media. In addition, SMMs are potential candidates for quantum computing. Challenges in SMM studies include: (a) Determination of magnetic separations in SMMs; (b) Understanding of magnetic relaxations. We have used state-of-the-art techniques such as far-IR magneto-spectroscopy (FIRMS), Raman magneto-spectroscopy (RaMS), and inelastic neutron scattering (INS) to determine the magnetic separations in SMMs and to probe magnetic relaxations. In addition, the spectroscopic studies lead to the rare observation of spin-vibrational couplings (known as spin-phonon couplings), which are critical to magnetic relaxation of the molecules from excited states. The studies are collaborations with scientists at National High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, and NIST Center for Neutron Research, among others.