A fully contained sample holder capable of electron-yield detection at soft X-ray energies.

A holder has been developed that enables electron yield-detected soft X-ray spectroscopy of fully contained samples at low temperature. Crucially, this design uses elements of the sample containment to collect ejected electrons, removing the need to expose samples directly to the vacuum environment of the spectrometer. The design is modular and should be adaptable to a number of different endstation configurations, enabling spectroscopy of air-sensitive, radioactive and vacuum-sensitive (biological) samples.

Slow Magnetic Relaxation in a Californium Complex.

We report the synthesis and characterization of the macrocyclic californium derivative Na[Cf(HO)(DOTA)] (DOTA = 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-1,4,7,10-tetraacetate), , which was studied in comparison to its dysprosium counterpart, Na[Dy(HO)(DOTA)], . Divergent spectroscopic and magnetic behaviors were observed between and . Based upon spectroscopic measurements, we propose that accessible 5f → 6d transitions (potentially operating in tandem with charge-transfer transitions) are the major contributors to the observed broadband photoluminescence in .

4f-Orbital mixing increases the magnetic susceptibility of Cp'Eu.

Traditional models of lanthanide electronic structure suggest that bonding is predominantly ionic, and that covalent orbital mixing is not an important factor in determining magnetic properties. Here, 4f orbital mixing and its impact on the magnetic susceptibility of Cp'Eu (Cp' = CHSiMe) was analyzed experimentally using magnetometry and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) methods at the C K-, Eu M-, and L-edges. Pre-edge features in the experimental and TDDFT-calculated C K-edge XAS spectra provided unequivocal evidence of C 2p and Eu 4f orbital mixing in the π-antibonding orbital of a' symmetry.

Metal-Halide Covalency, Exchange Coupling, and Slow Magnetic Relaxation in Triangular (Cp)UX (X = Cl, Br, I) Clusters.

The actinide elements are attractive alternatives to transition metals or lanthanides for the design of exchange-coupled multinuclear single-molecule magnets. However, the synthesis of such compounds is challenging, as is unraveling any contributions from exchange coupling to the overall magnetism. To date, only a few actinide compounds have been shown to exhibit exchange coupling and single-molecule magnetism.