Single crystal EPR study at 95 GHz of a large Fe based molecular nanomagnet: toward the structuring of magnetic nanoparticle properties

Polarized Neutron Diffraction: An Excellent Tool to Evidence the Magnetic Anisotropy—Structural Relationships in Molecules

This publication reviews recent advances in polarized neutron diffraction (PND) studies of magnetic anisotropy in coordination compounds comprising d or f elements and having different nuclearities. All these studies illustrate the extent to which PND can provide precise and direct information on the relationship between molecular structure and the shape and axes of magnetic anisotropy of the individual metal sites. It makes this experimental technique (PND) an excellent tool to help in the design of molecular-based magnets and especially single-molecule magnets for which strong uniaxial magnetic anisotropy is required.

Neutron Studies of a High Spin Fe19 Molecular Nanodisc

The molecular cluster system [Fe19(metheidi)10(OH)14O6(H2O)12]NO3·24H2O, abbreviated as Fe19, contains nineteen Fe(III) ions arranged in a disc-like structure with the total spin S = 35/2. For the first order, it behaves magnetically as a single molecule magnet with a 16 K anisotropy barrier. The high spin value enhances weak intermolecular interactions for both dipolar and superexchange mechanisms and an eventual transition to antiferromagnetic order occurs at 1.2 K. We used neutron diffraction to determine both the mode of ordering and the easy spin axis. The observed ordering was not consistent with a purely dipolar driven order, indicating a significant contribution from intermolecular superexchange. The easy axis is close to the molecular Fe1–Fe10 axis. Inelastic neutron scattering was used to follow the magnetic order parameter and to measure the magnetic excitations. Direct transitions to at least three excited states were found in the 2 to 3 meV region. Measurements below 0.2 meV revealed two low energy excited states, which were assigned to S = 39/2 and S = 31/2 spin states with respective excitation gaps of 1.5 and 3 K. Exchange interactions operating over distances of order 10 Å were determined to be on the order of 5 mK and were eight-times stronger than the dipolar coupling.

An EPR Study of Small Magnetic Nanoparticles

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) of spinel type iron oxide (of approximately 4 nm) mineralized inside the internal cavity of a mini ferritin-type protein have been investigated by means of electron magnetic resonance (EMR) spectroscopy. EMR measurements have been recorded at different temperatures in perpendicular and parallel configurations. The spectra have been interpreted using an approach based on the giant spin model. We confirm the quantum behavior of the MNPs, moreover, the thermal evolution of the spin system in terms of population of excited spin states is showed.

Sensing the quantum behaviour of magnetic nanoparticles by electron magnetic resonance

We have investigated Magnetic Nanoparticles (MNPs) of spinel type iron oxide (of approximately 8 nm) mineralized in the internal cavity of the bioreactor ferritin nanocage. In particular, we have used Electron Magnetic Resonance, EMR, spectroscopy and taken advantage of the capacity of the protein shells to control the size of the MNPs. EMR measurements in perpendicular and parallel configurations have been recorded at various temperatures. A model based on the giant spin is used to interpret the experimental results. The analysis indicates that the observed quantum behaviour has to be ascribed to the whole MNP and that the thermal population of excited spin states has a strong influence in the EMR behaviour of MNPs.

Magnetic anisotropy and exchange coupling in a family of isostructural Fe(III)2Ln(III)2 complexes

The reaction of [Fe3O(O2CPh)6(H2O)3](O2CPh) with lanthanide/rare earth nitrate salts in the presence of triethanolamine (H3tea) in acetonitrile/methanol solution yields a series of compounds with isostructural tetranuclear core motifs [Fe(III)2Ln(III)2(μ3-OH)2(teaH)2(O2CCPh)6]·3MeCN (Ln = Ce (1), Pr (2), Nd (3), Sm (4), Eu (5), Gd (6), Tb (7), Dy (8), Ho (9), Er (10), Tm (11), Yb (12), Y (13)). In all cases the core topology is a defect-dicubane planar or "butterfly" Fe2Ln2 motif. Compounds 1-13 were investigated using a combination of experimental techniques and theoretical studies. Magnetic susceptibility measurements were carried out on all compounds. The magnetic coupling between the two Fe(III) centres is antiferromagnetic, with J(FeFe) ca.-6.71(4) cm(-1), while the Fe-Ln couplings are much weaker, e.g. J(FeGd) = 0.18(1) cm(-1). Compounds 6, 7, 8 and 13 were selected for Mössbauer studies in order to investigate the influence of isotropic (Gd(III)), highly anisotropic non-Kramers and Kramers (Tb(III) and Dy(III)) and diamagnetic (Y(III)) rare earth ions on the local environment of the Fe(III) centres. Compounds 3, 6, 8 and 13 were also studied using X-Band EPR spectroscopy. For 13, with the diamagnetic Y(III) ion, this made it possible to obtain the D, E, J(FeFe) and g parameters for the iron centres. It is shown that the low-temperature spectra of compounds 3, 6 and 8 are determined by magnetic properties of rare-earth ions and the dipole-dipole interactions between the Ln(III) ions. The Fe-Ln interactions were confirmed as very weak and dipolar in nature by the temperature dependence of EPR spectra at T > 20 K.

Temperature dependence of electron magnetic resonance spectra of iron oxide nanoparticles mineralized in Listeria innocua protein cages

Electron magnetic resonance (EMR) spectroscopy was used to determine the magnetic properties of maghemite (γ-Fe(2)O(3)) nanoparticles formed within size-constraining Listeria innocua (LDps)-(DNA-binding protein from starved cells) protein cages that have an inner diameter of 5 nm. Variable-temperature X-band EMR spectra exhibited broad asymmetric resonances with a superimposed narrow peak at a gyromagnetic factor of g ≈ 2. The resonance structure, which depends on both superparamagnetic fluctuations and inhomogeneous broadening, changes dramatically as a function of temperature, and the overall linewidth becomes narrower with increasing temperature. Here, we compare two different models to simulate temperature-dependent lineshape trends. The temperature dependence for both models is derived from a Langevin behavior of the linewidth resulting from "anisotropy melting." The first uses either a truncated log-normal distribution of particle sizes or a bi-modal distribution and then a Landau-Liftshitz lineshape to describe the nanoparticle resonances. The essential feature of this model is that small particles have narrow linewidths and account for the g ≈ 2 feature with a constant resonance field, whereas larger particles have broad linewidths and undergo a shift in resonance field. The second model assumes uniform particles with a diameter around 4 nm and a random distribution of uniaxial anisotropy axes. This model uses a more precise calculation of the linewidth due to superparamagnetic fluctuations and a random distribution of anisotropies. Sharp features in the spectrum near g ≈ 2 are qualitatively predicted at high temperatures. Both models can account for many features of the observed spectra, although each has deficiencies. The first model leads to a nonphysical increase in magnetic moment as the temperature is increased if a log normal distribution of particles sizes is used. Introducing a bi-modal distribution of particle sizes resolves the unphysical increase in moment with temperature. The second model predicts low-temperature spectra that differ significantly from the observed spectra. The anisotropy energy density K(1), determined by fitting the temperature-dependent linewidths, was ∼50 kJ/m(3), which is considerably larger than that of bulk maghemite. The work presented here indicates that the magnetic properties of these size-constrained nanoparticles and more generally metal oxide nanoparticles with diameters d < 5 nm are complex and that currently existing models are not sufficient for determining their magnetic resonance signatures.

Exploring the no-man's land between molecular nanomagnets and magnetic nanoparticles

The comparison of the structural and magnetic properties of molecular nanomagnets (MNM) and magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) can be instructive to get a deeper understanding of the magnetic behavior on the intermediate scale between molecular and bulk objects. In this respect iron oxo based clusters are particularly interesting, since they provide an increasing number of molecular systems with sizes close to that of iron oxide MNP. In this Minireview we report a survey of literature data aimed at improving our understanding of the emergence of MNP properties from MNM ones.