Polymerisation of the dysprosium acetate dimer switches on single-chain magnetism

Polymerization of the dysprosium acetate dimer switches on single-chain magnetism has been reported. The micro-SQUID technique allows to explore the magnetic behavior by using a single crystal with its magnetic easy axis oriented parallel to the applied magnetic field by using temperatures below 1.8 K. These measurements reveal an unambiguously Ising-type magnetic anisotropy. FTIR spectra were measured on a Perkin Elmer Spectrum spectrometer with samples prepared as KBr discs. The dysprosium acetate dimer, does not exhibit any sign of SMM behavior, and such dimers are polymerized to form an infinite dysprosium acetate chain, one can switch on the slow-relaxation dynamics. The use of this old synthetic trick may represent another direction to tailor the magnetic properties of molecular structures.