Neutron spectroscopy of molecular nanomagnets

This short overview gives an account on the use of neutron spectroscopy for the examination of molecular nanomagnets, systems constructed by crystalline arrangement of finite size clusters (usually with regular form) of interacting moment carrying atoms - magnetic molecules. Opposed to extended magnetic systems with bands of collective excitations such as spin-waves the molecular nanomagnets are entities with local properties, each magnetic molecule possessing a finite number of energy levels that can be solved exactly for small enough systems. In essence, the number of states remains finite despite growing rapidly with increasing number of magnetic centers and the value of the spin quantum number. Increasingly large numbers of states and more complex exchange networks lead to the need for approximative treatments, the validity of which can be checked with neutron spectroscopy. Molecular nanomagnets provide interesting examples of physics and magnetochemistry, illustrated here with a few examples that highlight the power of neutron spectroscopy for precise investigation of the energy level structure and spatial configuration of the magnetic exchange parameters.