Films of Mn12-acetate by Pulsed Laser Evaporation

TL;DR

This paper demonstrates the fabrication of Mn12-acetate molecular nanomagnet films using pulsed laser evaporation techniques, analyzing how laser parameters affect film integrity and enabling patterned thin film systems for research.

Contribution

It introduces a novel pulsed laser evaporation method for depositing Mn12-acetate films while preserving their chemical and magnetic properties.

Findings

Low laser energy preserves Mn12 integrity.

Higher laser energy causes fragmentation.

Technique enables patterned nanomagnet films.

Abstract

Films of the molecular nanomagnet, Mn12-acetate, have been deposited using pulsed laser deposition and a novel variant, matrix assisted pulsed laser evaporation. The films have been characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, mass spectrometry and magnetic hysteresis. The results indicate that an increase in laser energy and/or pulse frequency leads to fragmentation of Mn12, whereas its chemical and magnetic integrity is preserved at low laser energy (200 mJ). This technique allows the fabrication of patterned thin film systems of molecular nanomagnets for fundamental and applied experiments.