Chiral quantum magnets with optically and catalytically active spin ladders

TL;DR

This paper introduces layered iron oxyhydroxides as a new class of chiral quantum magnets with optically and catalytically active spin ladders, addressing key challenges in realizing such materials for technological applications.

Contribution

It demonstrates that layered iron oxyhydroxides can host room-temperature chiral spin ladders with optical activity, offering a practical pathway to quantum magnets with spin and optical functionalities.

Findings

Chiral spin ladders are induced by intercalating chiral amino acids.

LIOX exhibits strong optical resonances with helicity-matching photons.

Spin states are chemically and optically accessible, enabling potential applications.

Abstract

Chiral quantum magnets with spin-states separated by a large energy gap are technologically attractive but difficult to realize. Geometrically frustrated topological states with nanoscale chirality may offer a chemical pathway to such materials. However, room temperature spin misalignment, weakness of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions, and high energy requirements for lattice distortions set high physicochemical barriers for their realization. Here, we show that layered iron oxyhydroxides (LIOX) address these challenges due to chirality transfer from surface ligands into spin-states of dimerized FeO6 octahedra with zig-zag stacking. The intercalation of chiral amino acids induces angular displacements in the antiferromagnetic spin pairs with a helical coupling of magnetic moments along the screw axis of the zig-zag chains, or helical spin-ladders. Unlike other chiral magnets, the spin states in LIOX are chemically and optically accessible, they display strong optical resonances with helicity-matching photons and enable spin-selective charge transport. The static rather than dynamic polarization of spin ladders in LIOX makes them particularly suitable for catalysis. Room-temperature spin pairing, field-tunability, environmental robustness, and synthetic simplicity make LIOX and its intercalates a uniquely practical family of quantum magnets.