Quantum Nanomagnets and Nuclear Spins: An Overview

  • Andrea Morello
Conference paper
Part of the NATO Science for Peace and Security Series book series (NAPSB)

Abstract

This mini-review presents a simple and accessible summary on the fascinating physics of quantum nanomagnets coupled to a nuclear spin bath. These chemically synthesized systems are an ideal test ground for the theories of decoherence in mesoscopic quantum degrees of freedom, when the coupling to the environment is local and not small. We shall focus here on the most striking quantum phenomenon that occurs in such nanomagnets, namely the tunneling of their giant spin through a high anisotropy barrier. It will be shown that perturbative treatments must be discarded, and replaced by a more sophisticated formalism where the dynamics of the nanomagnet and the nuclei that couple to it are treated together from the beginning. After a critical review of the theoretical predictions and their experimental verification, we continue with a set of experimental results that challenge our present understanding, and outline the importance of filling also this last gap in the theory.

Keywords

Nuclear Spin Tunneling Event Spin Diffusion Tunneling Rate Tunneling Splitting 
These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. 1.
    A. Abragam, The Principles of Nuclear Magnetism (Oxford University Press, London, 1961)Google Scholar
  2. 2.
    S. Alexander, A. Tzalmona, Phys. Rev 138, A845 (1965)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  3. 3.
    S.M. Aubin, M.W. Wemple, D.M. Adams, H.-L. Tsai, G. Christou, D.N. Hendrickson, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 118, 7746 (1996)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. 4.
    S.H. Baek, F. Borsa, Y. Furukawa, Y. Hatanaka, S. Kawakami, K. Kumagai, B.J. Suh, A. Cornia, Phys. Rev. B 71, 214436 (2005)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  5. 5.
    L. Bokacheva, A.D. Kent, M.A. Walters, Phys. Rev. Lett 85, 4803 (2000)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  6. 6.
    I. Chiorescu, R. Giraud, A.G.M. Jansen, A. Caneschi B. Barbara, Phys. Rev. Lett 85, 4807 (2000)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  7. 7.
    E.M. Chudnovsky, L. Gunther, Phys. Rev. Lett. 60, 661 (1988)CrossRefMathSciNetADSGoogle Scholar
  8. 8.
    M. Evangelisti, F. Luis, F.L. Mettes, N. Aliaga, G. Aromí, J.J. Alonso, G. Christou, L.J. de Jongh, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 117202 (2004)Google Scholar
  9. 9.
    M. Evangelisti, F. Luis, F.L. Mettes, R. Sessoli, L. J. de Jongh, Phys. Rev. Lett. 95, 227206 (2005)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  10. 10.
    J.R. Friedman, M.P. Sarachik, J. Tejada, R. Ziolo, Phys. Rev. Lett. 76, 3830 (1996)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  11. 11.
    Y. Furukawa, K. Watanabe, K. Kumagai, F. Borsa, D. Gatteschi, Phys. Rev. B 64, 104401 (2001)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  12. 12.
    D. Gatteschi, R. Sessoli, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 42, 268 (2003)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  13. 13.
    D. Gatteschi, A. Caneschi, L. Pardi, R. Sessoli, Science 265, 1054 (1994)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  14. 14.
    T. Goto, T. Koshiba, T. Kubo, K. Awaga, Phys. Rev. B 67, 104408 (2003)Google Scholar
  15. 15.
    J.M. Hern ández, X.X. Zhang, F. Luis, J. Bartolom é , J. Tejada, R. Ziolo, Europhys. Lett. 35, 301(1996)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  16. 16.
    S. Hill, R.S. Edwards, N. Aliaga-Alcade, G. Christou, Science 302, 1015 (2003)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  17. 17.
    Z.H. Jang, A. Lascialfari, F. Borsa, D. Gatteschi, Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 2977 (2000)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  18. 18.
    C. Joachim, J.K. Gimzewski, A. Aviram, Nature 408, 541 (2000)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  19. 19.
    Yu. Kagan, L.A. Maksimov, Sov. Phys. JETP 52, 688 (1980)ADSGoogle Scholar
  20. 20.
    R. Kubo, M. Toda, N. Hashitsume, Statistical Physics II (Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 1985)Google Scholar
  21. 21.
    M.N. Leuenberger, D. Loss, Phys. Rev. B 61, 1286 (2000)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  22. 22.
    T. Lis, Acta Cryst. B 69, 2042 (1980)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. 23.
    F. Luis, F.L. Mettes, J. Tejada, D. Gatteschi, L.J. de Jongh, Phys. Rev. Lett. 85, 4377 (2000)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  24. 24.
    F.L. Mettes, F. Luis, L.J. de Jongh, Phys. Rev. B 64, 174411 (2001)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  25. 25.
    A. Morello, L.J. de Jongh, Phys. Rev. B 76, 184425 (2007)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  26. 26.
    A. Morello, F.L. Mettes, F. Luis, J.F. Fern ández, J. Krzystek, G. Aromí, G. Christou, L.J. de Jongh, Phys. Rev. Lett. 90, 017206 (2003)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  27. 27.
    A. Morello, O.N. Bakharev, H.B. Brom, R. Sessoli, L.J. de Jongh, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 197202 (2004)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  28. 28.
    A. Morello, F.L. Mettes, O.N. Bakharev, H.B. Brom, L.J. de Jongh, F. Luis, J.F. Fern ández, G. Aromí, Phys. Rev. B 73, 134406 (2006)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  29. 29.
    A. Morello, P.C.E. Stamp, I.S. Tupitsyn, Phys. Rev. Lett. 97, 207206 (2006)Google Scholar
  30. 30.
    A. Nait Abdi, J.P. Bucher, P. Rabu, O. Toulemonde, M. Drillon, Ph. Gerbier, J. Appl. Phys. 95, 7345(2004)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  31. 31. N.V. Prokof ’ev, P.C.E. Stamp, cond-mat/9511011 (1995)Google Scholar
  32. 32.
    N.V. Prokof ’ev, P.C.E. Stamp, J. Low Temp. Phys. 104, 143 (1996)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  33. 33.
    N.V. Prokof ’ev, P.C.E. Stamp, Phys. Rev. Lett. 80, 5794 (1998)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  34. 34.
    N.V. Prokof ’ev, P.C.E. Stamp, Rep. Prog. Phys. 63, 669 (2000)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  35. 35.
    R. Sessoli, D. Gatteschi, A. Caneschi, M.A. Novak, Nature 365, 141 (1993)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  36. 36.
    R. Sessoli, H.-L. Tsai, A.R. Schake, S. Wang, J.B. Vincent, K. Folting, D. Gatteschi, G. Christou, D.N. Hendrickson, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 115, 1804 (1993)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  37. 37.
    C.P. Slichter, Priciples of Magnetic Resonance (Springer Berlin and Heidelberg, 1990)Google Scholar
  38. 38.
    P.C.E. Stamp, I.S. Tupitsyn, Chem. Phys. 296, 281 (2004)CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  39. 39.
    P.C.E. Stamp, I.S. Tupitsyn, Phys. Rev. B 69, 014401 (2004)Google Scholar
  40. 40.
    Z. Sun, D. Ruiz, N.R. Dilley, M. Soler, J. Ribas, K. Folting, M.B. Maple, G. Christou, D.N. Hendrickson, Chem. Comm. 1973 (1999)Google Scholar
  41. 41.
    L. Thomas, F. Lionti, R. Ballou, D. Gatteschi, R. Sessoli, B. Barbara, Nature 383, 145 (1996)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  42. 42.
    I.S. Tupitsyn, P.C.E. Stamp, N.V. Prokof ’ev, Phys. Rev. B. 69, 132406 (2004)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  43. 43.
    M. Ueda, S. Maegawa, S. Kitagawa, Phys. Rev. B 66, 073309 (2002)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  44. 44.
    J.H. van Vleck, Phys. Rev. 74, 1168 (1948)MATHCrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  45. 45.
    W. Wernsdordfer, R. Sessoli, Science 284, 133 (1999)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  46. 46.
    W. Wernsdorfer, T. Ohm, C. Sangregorio, R. Sessoli, D. Mailly, C. Paulsen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 82, 3903(1999)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  47. 47.
    W. Wernsdordfer, R. Sessoli, D. Gatteschi, Europhys. Lett. 47, 254 (1999)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  48. 48.
    W. Wernsdorfer, A. Caneschi, R. Sessoli, D. Gatteschi, A. Cornia, V. Villar, C. Paulsen, Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 2965 (2000)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  49. 49.
    W. Wernsdordfer, N. Aliaga-Alcade, D.N. Hendrickson, G. Christou, Nature 416, 406 (2002)CrossRefADSGoogle Scholar
  50. 50.
    K. Wieghardt, K. Pohl, I. Jibril, G. Huttner, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 23, 77 (1984)CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Copyright information

© Springer Science + Business Media B.V. 2008

Authors and Affiliations

  • Andrea Morello
    • 1
    • 2
  1. 1.Department of Physics and AstronomyUniversity of British ColumbiaVancouverCanada
  2. 2.Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Quantum Computer TechnologyUniversity of New South WalesSydneyAustralia

Personalised recommendations