The Use of Magnetic Dilution To Elucidate the Slow Magnetic Relaxation Effects of a Dy2 Single-Molecule Magnet

The magnetic dilution method was employed in order to elucidate the origin of the slow relaxation of the magnetization in a Dy2 single-molecule magnet (SMM). The doping effect was studied using SQUID and micro-SQUID measurements on a Dy2 SMM diluted in a diamagnetic Y2 matrix. The quantum tunneling of the magnetization that can occur was suppressed by applying optimum dc fields. The dominant single-ion relaxation was found to be entangled with the neighboring DyIII ion relaxation within the molecule, greatly influencing the quantum tunneling of the magnetization in this complex.