2018/03/13 by M. Fix, J. H. Atkinson, P. C. Canfield +4
Chemistry · Materials Science · Physics and Astronomy · #Advanced NMR Techniques and Applications #Condensed matter physics #Inorganic Chemistry and Materials #Magnetic field #Magnetism in coordination complexes #Magnetization #Physics #Quantum mechanics #Quantum tunnelling #Relaxation (psychology) #Spin (aerodynamics) #Thermodynamics #cond-mat.mes-hall #cond-mat.mtrl-sci #cond-mat.str-el
paper · pdf · doi:10.1103/physrevlett.120.147202
published as Phys. Rev. Lett. 120, 147202 (2018) · 6 pages, 3 figures, accepted for Phys. Rev. Lett
arxiv created 2018/03/13 · openalex created_date 2018/03/29 · openalex publication_date 2018/04/04 · arxiv updated 2018/04/11 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
The magnetic properties of dilute Li2(Li1-xFex)N with x∼0.001 are dominated by the spin of single, isolated Fe atoms. Below T=10 K the spin-relaxation times become temperature independent indicating a crossover from thermal excitations to the quantum tunneling regime. We report on a strong increase of the spin-flip probability in transverse magnetic fields that proves the resonant character of this tunneling process. Longitudinal fields, on the other hand, lift the ground-state degeneracy and destroy the tunneling condition. An increase of the relaxation time by 4 orders of magnitude in applied fields of only a few milliTesla reveals exceptionally sharp tunneling resonances. Li2(Li1-xFex)N represents a comparatively simple and clean model system that opens the possibility to study quantum tunneling of the magnetization at liquid helium temperatures.