Films of the molecular nanomagnet, Mn 12 -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 Mn 12 , 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.
Thin films of the molecular magnet Mn12-acetate, [Mn12 O12(CH3COO)16 (H2O)4]
2CH3COOH 4H2O, have been prepared using a laser ablation technique with a
nitrogen laser at low laser energies of 0.8 and 2 mJ. Chemical and magnetic
characterizations show that the Mn12-acetate cores remain intact and the films
show similar magnetic properties to those of the parent molecular starting
material. In addition, the magnetic data exhibit a peak in the magnetization at
27 K indicating the creation of an additional magnetic phase not noted in
previous studies of crystalline phases.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, In Press - J. Mag. Mag. Ma
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