Coexistence of room temperature magneto-chiral dichroism and magneto-electric coupling in a chiral nanomagnet†

Abstract

We report herein on the magneto-chiral dichroism (MChD), investigated through near infrared light absorption, of a chiral nanomagnet showing room temperature magneto-electric coupling. The MChD signal associated with the YbIII center is driven by the magnetic dipole allowed character of the 2F7/2 ← 2F5/2 electronic transition (|ΔJ| = 1). Magnetic field and temperature dependence studies reveal an MChD signal that follows the material magnetization and persists at room temperature. These results represent the first evidence of the coexistence of magneto-chiral dichroism and magneto-electric coupling at room temperature in a molecular nanomagnet and pave the way for further studies where magneto-chiral anisotropy and magneto-electric coupling interact.