Anthony Liang

Nonclassical dipoles in cold niobium clusters

Electric deflections of niobium clusters in molecular beams show that they have permanent electric dipole moments at cryogenic temperatures but not higher temperatures, indicating that they are ferroelectric. Detailed analysis shows that the deflections cannot be explained in terms of a rotating classical dipole, as claimed by Andersen et al.. The shapes of the deflected beam profiles and their field and temperature dependence indicates that the clusters can exist in two states, one with a dipole and the other without. Cluster with dipoles occupy lower energy states. Excitations from the lower states to the higher states can be induced by low fluence laser excitation. This causes the dipole to vanish.

Size dependent magnetic moments and electric polarizabilities of free Tb, Ho, and Tm clusters

Stern–Gerlach deflection measurements have been performed on rare earth clusters TbN, HoN, and TmN (N≤40) at cryogenic temperatures (T≤77 K). TbN and HoN share a common size dependence in their magnetic moments. They both exhibit common “magic number” sizes which show reduced net magnetic moments, similar to previous observations for Gd and Dy clusters. TmN have smaller magnetic moments that do not differ significantly between cluster sizes. The reduced net magnetic moments are evidence that the atomic moments are canceled by a canted or antiferromagnetic alignment. Electric deflection experiments reveal that TmN have electric dipole moments and show an enhanced response to an electric field compared to TbN and HoN.

The effect of oxygen doping on the magnetism of Tb and Pr clusters

The magnetic moments and electric dipoles of Tb and Pr clusters are investigated using the Stern–Gerlach deflection technique. The addition of a single oxygen atom induces an increase in the electric dipole of TbN clusters, however the magnetic moment is largely not affected. In Pr neither the magnetic moment nor the electric dipole is affected. This raises questions as to the role of conduction electrons in the exchange interaction of rare earth clusters, and puts into doubt the validity of the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) exchange mechanism in small systems.