NEW MAGNETIC MATERIALS BASED ON SINGLE MOLECULE MAGNETS

Here we briefly review some new magnetic materials based single molecule magnets containing transition and rare-earth ions. Within this broad theme the emphasis is made on the molecules which exhibit strong magnetic anisotropy originating from the unquenched orbital angular momentum. Along with the general concepts we consider selected examples of the systems comprising orbitally-degenerate metal ions and demonstrate how one can benefit from strong single-ion anisotropy. The role of crystal fields, spin-orbit coupling and structural factors is discussed. Some observation stemming from the in-depth analysis of the exchange interactions are summarized as a set of guiding rules for the controlled design of single molecule magnets exhibiting high magnetic barrier and blocking temperature.