Eur. Phys. J. D 34, 177-182 (2005)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjd/e2005-00135-4

Stern-Gerlach studies of organometallic sandwich clusters

¹ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, Keio University, 3-14-1 Hiyoshi, Kohoku-ku, 223-8522 Yokohama, Japan
² Chemistry Division, Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, 60439 Illinois, USA
³ CREST, Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), c/o Department of Chemistry, Keio University, 223-8522 Yokohama, Japan

Corresponding author: ^a nakajima@chem.keio.ac.jp

Received: 6 September 2004
Published online: 13 July 2005

Abstract

Stern-Gerlach type magnetic deflection measurements were performed for two types of multiple sandwich clusters: vanadium-benzene V_n(C₆H₆) and terbium-cyclooctatetraene Tb_n(C₈H₈). Beams of V_n(C₆H₆) clusters () showed symmetric broadening induced by the inhomogeneous field, indicating free spin behavior similar to that displayed by isolated paramagnetic atoms. By contrast, beams of Tb_n(C₈H₈) clusters displayed one-sided deflection, indicating that fast spin relaxation occurs within the clusters. The difference in the magnetic deflection behavior exhibited by these two systems is explained by their electronic structures, specifically the bonding characteristics between metal atoms and ligand molecules.