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Molecules on Rye?

Posted on: Thursday, 10 March 2005, 03:00 CST

ALTHOUGH IT MAY NOT SOUND very appealing gastronomically, magnetic sandwiches on the molecular level could revolutionize computer storage capabilities.

Three collaborating institutions are currently exploring the magnetic properties of these molecules.

The new type of molecular magnet, known as a sandwich cluster, is being studied in a joint research project of the U.S. Department of Energy's Argonne National Laboratory, the University of Chicago, and Keio University in Japan.

The molecular magnets may one day lend a hand in ultrasmall, fast, and energy-efficient computer storage systems. They could be useful for magnetic storage or for spin-based electronics, devices powered by an electron's spin.

A sandwich cluster molecule consists of alternate layers of metal atoms and organic molecules-such as vanadium and benzene. The clusters can be several nanometers in length, depending on the number of layers. In turn, the number of layers depends on the types of metal atoms and organic molecules that create the cluster as well as on the temperature of the atoms and molecules at creation. Cluster molecules display different magnetic behaviors than regular bulk-metal molecules.

Argonne researchers focus on techniques to deposit the clusters onto surfaces, according to the laboratory.

Researchers use the laboratory's Stern-Gerlach molecular beam deflection apparatus. The apparatus contains a special magnet that generates small deflections in a molecular beam of metal clusters that travel inside a high-vacuum chamber.

"We can determine how interesting these magnetic clusters are with the molecular beam deflection apparatus," said Mark Knickelbein, an Argonne chemist. "From the magnitude of the deflections, we can determine the magnetic moments of the clusters- the most fundamental measure of their magnetism."

Argonne has already made several advances in sandwich-cluster research, according to a laboratory statement. For example, researchers have discovered how to generate clusters larger than ever observed before by reacting laser-generated metal atoms with benzene and other molecules at low temperatures.

Molecular magnets could be useful for energy-efficient computer storage systems.

Copyright American Society of Mechanical Engineers Mar 2005

Source: Mechanical Engineering

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