1 Henderson et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 109 , 017202 (2009)

1. Revealing Intrinsic Quantum Properties of Molecular NanomagnetsStephen O. Hill, University of Flordia, DMR 0239481 The quantum properties of molecular nanomagnets (MNMs) can be controlled by molecular composition and configuration. Molecular and crystallographic symmetries play a crucial role, enforcing selection rules in spectroscopic studies. However, until now,1 no clear-cut demonstration of such selection rules has been reported. High-field EPR and magnetic hysteresis measurements of a new family of Mn3 MNMs exhibit extremely sharp resonances.1,2 Importantly, these measurements display clear-cut evidence for quantum mechanical selection rules. These are the first MNMs to show such behavior, demonstrating that intrinsic symmetry effects do indeed emerge when one can prepare clean enough samples with simple topologies. High-field EPR measurements for one of the ferromagnetic S = 6 Mn3 complexes. The sharpness of the features in the data are unprecedented for high-spin MNMs. 1Henderson et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 109, 017202 (2009) 2Feng et al., Inorg. Chem. (Forum) 48, 3480 (2009).

2. Revealing Intrinsic Quantum Properties of Molecular NanomagnetsStephen O. Hill, University of Flordia, DMR 0239481 The PI organized a week-long summer school on theoretical and practical aspects of pulsed EPR. The school was attended by 20 graduate students and postdocs from the physics, chemistry and biology departments both at Florida State University (FSU) and the University of Florida (UF). A series of formal lectures by faculty members from both UF and FSU took place each morning, followed by hands-on training in the afternoons on both commercial and home-built spectrometers. Based on the success of this first workshop, the PI plans to hold similar events in coming years that will be open to members of the EMR community in the US and overseas.