Effects of frustration on magnetic molecules: a survey from Olivier Kahn till today

TL;DR

This paper surveys the impact of magnetic frustration on molecular magnetism, highlighting how it causes unusual magnetic behaviors and clarifying its role in the field's development.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive overview of how frustration influences molecular magnetism and clarifies misconceptions about its effects.

Findings

Frustration leads to unusual magnetic properties.

The term 'frustration' is often used imprecisely.

Understanding frustration is key to explaining magnetic phenomena.

Abstract

In magnetism, of which molecular magnetism is a part, the term frustration is used rather sloppily. Sometimes one gains the impression that if the reason for some phenomenon is not quite clear then it is attributed to frustration. In this paper I discuss the effects of frustration that I feel are relevant for the field of molecular magnetism. As will become clear later they indeed lead to a variety of unusual magnetic properties.