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At least 37 records · Page 2

Layer-by-layer assembly of a [Fe-(pyrazine){Pd(CN) 4 }] spin crossover thin film

Abstract [Fe-(pyrazine){Pd(CN) 4 }] (pyrazine = pz) thin films were fabricated using a layer-by-layer assembly approach, a method known to be tunable, versatile, and scalable, since thin films are better-suited for industrial applications. In this study, [Fe-(pz){Pd(CN) 4 }] powder was synthesized, and the results obtained from a vibrating sample magnetometer verified the presence of an abrupt hysteresis loop with widths of 45 K centered around 300 K, indicating good cooperativity. Super conducting quantum interference device magnetometry results indicated a slow spin transition with temperature but with evidence of hysteresis for thin film samples. X-ray absorption analysis provided further support of the spin crossover behavior but differs from the magnetometry because the spin state transition at the surface differs from the bulk of the thin film. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy provided some insight into issues with the film deposition process and multiplex fitting was used to further support the claim that the surface of the film is different than the bulk of the film.

McElveen, Kayleigh A. (ORCID:0000000210302913)↗

Exploring the Coexistence of Spin States in [Fe(tpy-Ph) 2 ] 2+ Complexes on Au(111) Using DFT Calculations

In this work, we systematically study the electronic structure and stability of spin states of the [Fe-(tpy-ph) 2 ] 2+ molecule in both the gas phase and on a Au(111) substrate using density functional theory + U (DFT+ U ) calculations. We find that the stability of the Fe 2+ ion’s spin states predicted by the computations is significantly influenced by the Hubbard U parameter. In the gas phase, the low-spin (LS, S = 0) state is found to be energetically favorable for U (Fe) ≤ 3 eV, whereas the high-spin (HS, S = 2) state is stabilized for U (Fe) > 3 eV. Interaction with the Au(111) substrate is found to elevate the critical U for the spin-state transition to 3.5 eV. Additionally, we perform L-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) calculations for both HS and LS states. The calculated XAS suggests that the HS state more closely aligns with the experimental observations, indicating the potential coexistence of the HS state as the initial state during the X-ray excitation process. These findings enrich our understanding of spin-state dynamics in [Fe(tpy-Ph) 2 ] 2+ .

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Spin and charge excitations in the correlated multiband metal Ca 3 Ru 2 O 7

We use Ru $L_3$-edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering to study the full range of excitations in Ca 3 Ru 2 O 7 from meV-scale magnetic dynamics through to the eV-scale interband transitions. This bilayer 4d-electron correlated metal expresses a rich phase diagram, displaying long-range magnetic order below 56 K followed by a concomitant structural, magnetic, and electronic transition at 48 K. In the low-temperature phase, we observe a magnetic excitation with a bandwidth of ~30 meV and a gap of ~8 meV at the zone center, in excellent agreement with inelastic neutron scattering data. The dispersion can be modeled using a Heisenberg Hamiltonian for a bilayer S = 1 system with single-ion anisotropy terms. At a higher energy loss, dd-type excitations show heavy damping in the presence of itinerant electrons, giving rise to a fluorescencelike signal appearing between the $t_{2g}$ and $e_g$ bands. At the same time, we observe a resonance originating from localized $t_{2g}$ excitations, in analogy to the structurally related Mott insulator Ca 2 RuO 4 . But whereas Ca 2 RuO 4 shows sharp separate spin-orbit excitations and Hund’s-rule driven spin-state transitions, here we identify only a single broad asymmetric feature. These results indicate that local intraionic interactions underlie the correlated physics in Ca 3 Ru 2 O 7 , even as the excitations become strongly mixed in the presence of itinerant electrons.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Interplays of electron and nuclear motions along CO dissociation trajectory in myoglobin revealed by ultrafast X-rays and quantum dynamics calculations

Significance In this multidisciplinary study, we investigated local and global structural responses upon carbon monoxide (CO) dissociation from the heme iron(II) in myoglobin in solution using ultrafast X-ray absorption and scattering. CO dissociation was optically triggered and pulsed X-rays probed structural and electronic changes as a function of time, revealing an iron(II) spin state transition and nuclear motions propagating from the active site throughout the entire protein. Quantum mechanical computational results were used to assign the iron K-edge absorption features, and to map out electronic and nuclear trajectories during Fe–CO bond elongation and heme macrocycle doming. The study has important implications for heme–protein function and the interaction of small molecule substrates with the metal active centers in enzymes.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Direct Observation of Collective Electronuclear Modes about a Quantum Critical Point

We directly measure the low energy excitation modes of the quantum Ising magnet LiHoF 4 using microwave spectroscopy. Instead of a single electronic mode, we find a set of collective electronuclear modes, in which the spin-1/2 Ising electronic spins hybridize with the bath of spin-7/2 Ho nuclear spins. The lowest-lying electronuclear mode softens at the approach to the quantum critical point, even in the presence of disorder. This softening is rapidly quenched by a longitudinal magnetic field. Similar electronuclear structures should exist in other spin-based quantum Ising systems.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Three years of Transients with Fermi GBM

The Gamma-ray Burst Monitor (GBM) is an all-sky monitoring instrument, sensitive between 8 keV and 40 MeV, with a primary objective of supporting the Large Area Telescope (LAT) in observations of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs). Both instruments are part of the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope. Together, the GBM and LAT instruments have provided ground-breaking measurements of GRBs that have, after 10 years of focus on GRB afterglows, inspired renewed interest in the prompt emission phase of GRBs and the physical mechanisms that fuel them. In addition to GRB science, GBM has made significant contributions to the astrophysics of galactic transient sources including long-term variations in the Crab nebula, spin state transitions in accretion powered pulsars, state transitions in black hole X-ray binaries, and unprecedented time-resolved spectral studies of soft gamma-ray repeater bursts. Closer to home, GBM also contributes to solar flare and terrestrial gamma flash science.

Wilson-Hodge, Colleen A.↗

How to calculate the rate constants for nonradiative transitions between the M S components of spin multiplets?

Predicting the rates of spin-dependent processes characterized by nonradiative transitions between electronic states with different spin multiplicities is important for understanding the mechanisms of many photochemical and catalytic reactions. To calculate these rates, it is necessary to define the spin state representation and the couplings between these states that drives the interstate transitions. In this work, we describe three different approaches to calculating the spin-orbit coupling (SOC), transition probabilities, and rate constants between the MS components of the electronic states with different spin multiplicities. We implemented these approaches in our nonadiabatic statistical theory (NAST) software package, which predicts the transition probabilities and rate constants of spin-dependent processes using information obtained from electronic structure calculations. Here, we discuss the advantage and drawbacks of each approach and, as an example, calculate the rate constants for transitions between the spin states in the active site model of the protein rubredoxin.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Strongly Correlated States of Transition Metal Spin Defects: The Case of an Iron Impurity in Aluminum Nitride

We investigate the electronic properties of an exemplar transition metal impurity in an insulator, with the goal of accurately describing strongly correlated defect states. Here, we consider iron in aluminum nitride, a material of interest for hybrid quantum technologies, and we carry out calculations with quantum embedding methods, density matrix embedding theory (DMET) and quantum defect embedding theory (QDET), and with spin-flip time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT). We show that both DMET and QDET accurately describe the ground state and low-lying excited states of the defect and that TDDFT yields photoluminescence spectra in agreement with experiments. In addition, we provide a detailed discussion of the convergence of our results as a function of the active space used in the embedding methods, thus defining a protocol to obtain converged data directly comparable with experiments.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Room-temperature valence transition in a strain-tuned perovskite oxide

Abstract Cobalt oxides have long been understood to display intriguing phenomena known as spin-state crossovers, where the cobalt ion spin changes vs. temperature, pressure, etc. A very different situation was recently uncovered in praseodymium-containing cobalt oxides, where a first-order coupled spin-state/structural/metal-insulator transition occurs, driven by a remarkable praseodymium valence transition. Such valence transitions, particularly when triggering spin-state and metal-insulator transitions, offer highly appealing functionality, but have thus far been confined to cryogenic temperatures in bulk materials (e.g., 90 K in Pr 1- x Ca x CoO 3 ). Here, we show that in thin films of the complex perovskite (Pr 1- y Y y ) 1- x Ca x CoO 3-δ , heteroepitaxial strain tuning enables stabilization of valence-driven spin-state/structural/metal-insulator transitions to at least 291 K, i.e., around room temperature. The technological implications of this result are accompanied by fundamental prospects, as complete strain control of the electronic ground state is demonstrated, from ferromagnetic metal under tension to nonmagnetic insulator under compression, thereby exposing a potential novel quantum critical point.

37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CH↗

Conservation of angular momentum in an elastic medium with spins

Exact conservation of the angular momentum is worked out for an elastic medium with spins. The intrinsic anharmonicity of the elastic theory is shown to be crucial for conserving the total momentum. As a result, any spin-lattice dynamics inevitably involves multiphonon processes and interaction between phonons. Furthermore, this makes transitions between spin states in a solid fundamentally different from transitions between atomic states in a vacuum governed by linear electrodynamics. Consequences for using solid-state spins as qubits are discussed.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Beyond single tetrahedron physics of the breathing pyrochlore compound Ba 3 ⁢Yb 2 ⁢Zn 5 ⁢O 11

Recently, a new class of quantum magnets, the so-called breathing pyrochlore spin systems, have attracted much attention due to their potential to host exotic emergent phenomena. Here, we present magnetometry, heat capacity, thermal conductivity, muon-spin relaxation, and polarized inelastic neutron scattering measurements performed on high-quality single crystal samples of the breathing pyrochlore compound Ba 3 ⁢Yb 2 ⁢Zn 5 ⁢O 11 . We interpret these results using a simplified toy model and provide insight into the low-energy physics of this system beyond the single tetrahedron physics proposed previously.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Theory of ultrafast photoinduced low-to-high spin crossover in divalent iron systems

Here a theory is developed for the ultrafast low-to-high spin transition in divalent iron. Following the photoinduced metal-to-ligand charge transfer (MLCT), the 1 A 1 MLCT state decays on a sub-100-fs timescale into the 5 T 2 MLCT using a 3 T 1 MLCT state as intermediary. Damping of nuclear motion is crucial in obtaining a full singlet-to-quintet transition mediated by the spin-orbit interaction. Destructive interference suppresses transitions to metal-centered (MC) states. The relaxation to the MC 5 T 2 is a result of Coulomb scattering with the surroundings.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Entropic signatures of the skyrmion lattice phase in MnSi 1- x Al x and Fe 1- y Co y Si

Here, the entropic signatures of magnetic phase transitions in the skyrmion lattice host compounds MnSi 0.962 Al 0.038 and Fe 0.7 Co 0.3 Si were investigated through low field magnetization and ac susceptibility measurements. These data indicate that the conical to skyrmion transition that occurs with the application of magnetic field in MnSi 0.962 Al 0.038 is characterized by clear discontinuity in the magnetic entropy as expected for first order topological phase transition. These same magnetoentropic features are negligibly small in isostructural Fe 0.7 Co 0.3 Si due to the level of chemical substitution related disorder and differences in the spin dynamics (range and timescales). Despite the obvious similarities in the magnetic structures of these two compounds, the transitions between these phases is substantially different indicating a surprising nonuniversality to the magnetic phase transitions in this class of materials.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗