Quantum magnetoelectric effect in molecular crystal Dy$_3$

TL;DR

This paper investigates the magnetoelectric properties of a dysprosium-based molecular crystal, deriving an effective Hamiltonian and revealing unique effects due to molecular chirality that differ from typical paramagnetic systems.

Contribution

It introduces a quantum mechanical model for the cluster spin structure and derives the effective spin-electric Hamiltonian for the molecular crystal.

Findings

Identifies distinctive magnetoelectric features linked to molecular chirality.

Calculates the magnetoelectric contribution to the free energy.

Reveals features not typical for conventional paramagnetic systems at low temperatures.

Abstract

Magnetoelectric properties of a molecular crystal formed by dysprosium triangular clusters are investigated. The effective spin-electric Hamiltonian is derived on the base of developed quantum mechanical model of the cluster spin structure. The magnetoelectric contribution to the free energy of the crystal is calculated. The analysis reveals several distinctive features of the magnetoelectric effect, which are not typical for conventional paramagnetic systems at low temperatures. The peculiarities are explained by the chirality of the dysprosium core of the molecules.