IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/natcom/v15y2024i1d10.1038_s41467-024-48411-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Tracking nuclear motion in single-molecule magnets using femtosecond X-ray absorption spectroscopy

Author

Listed:
  • Kyle Barlow

    (University of Edinburgh)

  • Ryan Phelps

    (University of Edinburgh)

  • Julien Eng

    (Newcastle University)

  • Tetsuo Katayama

    (Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute
    RIKEN SPring-8 Center)

  • Erica Sutcliffe

    (University of Edinburgh)

  • Marco Coletta

    (University of Edinburgh)

  • Euan K. Brechin

    (University of Edinburgh)

  • Thomas J. Penfold

    (Newcastle University)

  • J. Olof Johansson

    (University of Edinburgh)

Abstract

The development of new data storage solutions is crucial for emerging digital technologies. Recently, all-optical magnetic switching has been achieved in dielectrics, proving to be faster than traditional methods. Despite this, single-molecule magnets (SMMs), which are an important class of magnetic materials due to their nanometre size, remain underexplored for ultrafast photomagnetic switching. Herein, we report femtosecond time-resolved K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (TR-XAS) on a Mn(III)-based trinuclear SMM. Exploiting the elemental specificity of XAS, we directly track nuclear dynamics around the metal ions and show that the ultrafast dynamics upon excitation of a crystal-field transition are dominated by a magnetically active Jahn-Teller mode. Our results, supported by simulations, reveal minute bond length changes from 0.01 to 0.05 Å demonstrating the sensitivity of the method. These geometrical changes are discussed in terms of magneto-structural relationships and consequently our results illustrate the importance of TR-XAS for the emerging area of ultrafast molecular magnetism.

Suggested Citation

  • Kyle Barlow & Ryan Phelps & Julien Eng & Tetsuo Katayama & Erica Sutcliffe & Marco Coletta & Euan K. Brechin & Thomas J. Penfold & J. Olof Johansson, 2024. "Tracking nuclear motion in single-molecule magnets using femtosecond X-ray absorption spectroscopy," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-7, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-48411-0
    DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48411-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-48411-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/s41467-024-48411-0?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ph. Wernet & K. Kunnus & I. Josefsson & I. Rajkovic & W. Quevedo & M. Beye & S. Schreck & S. Grübel & M. Scholz & D. Nordlund & W. Zhang & R. W. Hartsock & W. F. Schlotter & J. J. Turner & B. Kennedy , 2015. "Orbital-specific mapping of the ligand exchange dynamics of Fe(CO)5 in solution," Nature, Nature, vol. 520(7545), pages 78-81, April.
    2. A. Stupakiewicz & K. Szerenos & D. Afanasiev & A. Kirilyuk & A. V. Kimel, 2017. "Ultrafast nonthermal photo-magnetic recording in a transparent medium," Nature, Nature, vol. 542(7639), pages 71-74, February.
    3. Tetsuo Katayama & Thomas Northey & Wojciech Gawelda & Christopher J. Milne & György Vankó & Frederico A. Lima & Rok Bohinc & Zoltán Németh & Shunsuke Nozawa & Tokushi Sato & Dmitry Khakhulin & Jakub S, 2019. "Tracking multiple components of a nuclear wavepacket in photoexcited Cu(I)-phenanthroline complex using ultrafast X-ray spectroscopy," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-8, December.
    4. Henrik T. Lemke & Kasper S. Kjær & Robert Hartsock & Tim B. van Driel & Matthieu Chollet & James M. Glownia & Sanghoon Song & Diling Zhu & Elisabetta Pace & Samir F. Matar & Martin M. Nielsen & Mauriz, 2017. "Coherent structural trapping through wave packet dispersion during photoinduced spin state switching," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 8(1), pages 1-8, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Freddie Hendriks & Rafael R. Rojas-Lopez & Bert Koopmans & Marcos H. D. Guimarães, 2024. "Electric control of optically-induced magnetization dynamics in a van der Waals ferromagnetic semiconductor," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    2. Maciej Da̧browski & Shi Guo & Mara Strungaru & Paul S. Keatley & Freddie Withers & Elton J. G. Santos & Robert J. Hicken, 2022. "All-optical control of spin in a 2D van der Waals magnet," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    3. Ambar Banerjee & Michael R. Coates & Markus Kowalewski & Hampus Wikmark & Raphael M. Jay & Philippe Wernet & Michael Odelius, 2022. "Photoinduced bond oscillations in ironpentacarbonyl give delayed synchronous bursts of carbonmonoxide release," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-10, December.
    4. P. Padmanabhan & F. L. Buessen & R. Tutchton & K. W. C. Kwock & S. Gilinsky & M. C. Lee & M. A. McGuire & S. R. Singamaneni & D. A. Yarotski & A. Paramekanti & J.-X. Zhu & R. P. Prasankumar, 2022. "Coherent helicity-dependent spin-phonon oscillations in the ferromagnetic van der Waals crystal CrI3," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 13(1), pages 1-8, December.
    5. Robert B. Weakly & Chelsea E. Liekhus-Schmaltz & Benjamin I. Poulter & Elisa Biasin & Roberto Alonso-Mori & Andrew Aquila & Sébastien Boutet & Franklin D. Fuller & Phay J. Ho & Thomas Kroll & Caroline, 2023. "Revealing core-valence interactions in solution with femtosecond X-ray pump X-ray probe spectroscopy," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 14(1), pages 1-8, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:natcom:v:15:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-024-48411-0. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.