Neutron scattering measurements on rare earth single molecule magnets

Full text: Single molecule magnets are a class of materials which show a magnetic bistability and hysteresis on a molecular level. Such properties have meant they are potential candidates for spintronics applications, data storage and as qubits. Inelastic neutron scattering has been shown to give unique information on these materials as it allows the ground state splitting to be probed directly. In recent years we have demonstrated that combined with ab initio calculations the structure property relationships can be understood. More recently it has been demonstrated that spin-phonon coupling can also be measured directly using this technique. Finally new sample environment has meant that it is possible to probe these effects in the presence of a static magnetic field. In this contribution I will give a summary of the work that has been completed on these fascinating materials at the ACNS. (author)