Spin Entanglement in Supramolecular Structures

Molecular Spin Clusters might be the future of nanorobotics, as research on them gets more and more elucidating. Molecular spin clusters are molecules consisting of a magnetic core and an external non-magnetic shell. Typically, the inner part is made of transition metal (hydro-) oxides bridged and chelated by organic. Once synthesized, magnetic molecules are generally stable and they can be dissolved in solutions. From these, bulk crystals, comprising a macroscopic number of identical units aligned along specific crystallographic directions, can be obtained. In general, molecules do not interact with each other and the behavior of a bulk crystal turns out to be that of a collection of non-interacting, identical molecules. This allows us to use conventional solid state experimental techniques to investigate molecular features, which is certainly one of the keys for success of these molecular objects. Since the structure and the properties of these molecular arrangements can be altered in a lab, it is easy for scientists to develop models of these systems.Thus, they represent an ideal playground within solid state systems to test concepts in quantum mechanics with the hopes of controlling how these molecular structures get their characteristic shape.

I found this article interesting, as it delves with topics related to our final project. The relative easiness with which research on molecular spin clusters is done will allow to expand our knowledge of how systems at nanoscale behave and function. This will result in the development of more intricate nanomachines.

Reference:

http://iopscience.iop.org/0957-4484/21/27/274009/pdf/0957-4484_21_27_274009.pdf

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