title: Spin-orbit coupled molecular quantum magnetism realized in inorganic solid.
abstract: Molecular quantum magnetism involving an isolated spin state is of particular interest due to the characteristic quantum phenomena underlying spin qubits or molecular spintronics for quantum information devices, as demonstrated in magnetic metal-organic molecular systems, the so-called molecular magnets. Here we report the molecular quantum magnetism realized in an inorganic solid Ba3Yb2Zn5O11 with spin-orbit coupled pseudospin-½ Yb(3+) ions. The magnetization represents the magnetic quantum values of an isolated Yb4 tetrahedron with a total (pseudo)spin 0, 1 and 2. Inelastic neutron scattering results reveal that a large Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction originating from strong spin-orbit coupling of Yb 4f is a key ingredient to explain magnetic excitations of the molecular magnet states. The Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya interaction allows a non-adiabatic quantum transition between avoided crossing energy levels, and also results in unexpected magnetic behaviours in conventional molecular magnets.
authors.affiliation: Max Planck POSTECH Center for Complex Phase Materials, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 37673, Korea.
authors.forename: Sang-Youn
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Max Planck POSTECH Center for Complex Phase Materials, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 37673, Korea.|Department of Physics, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06911, Korea.
authors.forename: S-H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Do
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Chung-Ang University, Seoul 06911, Korea.
authors.forename: K-Y
authors.initials: KY
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics in Solid, 01187 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: J-H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics in Solid, 01187 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Dongjin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Jang
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics in Solid, 01187 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.affiliation: Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics in Solid, 01187 Dresden, Germany.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brando
authors.affiliation: iTHES Research Group and Computational Condensed Matter Physics Laboratory, RIKEN, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan.
authors.forename: B-H
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Max Planck POSTECH Center for Complex Phase Materials, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 37673, Korea.|Department of Physics, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 37673, Korea.
authors.forename: D-H
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: NIST Center for Neutron Research, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, USA.
authors.forename: N P
authors.initials: NP
authors.lastname: Butch
authors.affiliation: Neutron Science Division, HANARO, Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon 34057, Korea.
authors.forename: Seongsu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.affiliation: Max Planck POSTECH Center for Complex Phase Materials, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 37673, Korea.|Department of Physics, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 37673, Korea.|Division of Advanced Materials Science, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 37673, Korea.
authors.forename: J-H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Max Planck POSTECH Center for Complex Phase Materials, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 37673, Korea.|Department of Physics, Pohang University of Science and Technology, Pohang 37673, Korea.
authors.forename: Sungdae
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ji