Counterintuitive Control of Molecular Magnetic Relaxation via Chemically Tunable Electron-Spin Baths

Magnetic molecules are critical components in current and next generation applications in molecular imaging and information processing. Toward functionality in these applications, long spin-lattice and spin-spin relaxation times are desired. However, most magnetic molecules display fast relaxation times when in the presence of a magnetic environment. Bioimaging and information storage environments are nuclear and electron spin-rich. Hence, we need to understand how to design long relaxation times in highly magnetic environments. This presentation will detail our efforts toward that knowledge by studying the spin-bath-to-molecule interaction via molecular chemistry and magnetic analysis. Specifically, we will discuss the response of the relaxation times in a set of cobalt-containing molecules to a chemically tunable magnetic environment as determined by electron spin resonance and alternating current magnetic susceptibility. In the long term, these fundamental studies will deliver design principles for molecules with long relaxation times in magnetically chaotic environments.