Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 27, 2026

Methods of Ex Situ and In Situ Investigations of Structural Transformations: The Case of Crystallization of Metallic Glasses
Published on: June 7, 2018
Finite-temperature toroidal moment amenable to direct observation in an Fe10Dy10 molecular ring
Alessandro Soncini1, Kieran Hymas2, Jonas Braun3,4,5
1Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Padova, Padova, Italy. alessandro.soncini@unipd.it.
Abstract:
Single-molecule toroics host closed magnetic vortices carrying toroidal moments τ, whose electric-dipole symmetry enables magnetoelectric spin control. Yet opposite toroidal chiralities are degenerate in conventional magnetic fields, making direct detection of τ challenging. Current approaches probe toroidal dynamics only indirectly through weak residual magnetism, while finite-temperature toroidal polarisation and realistic preparation/readout conditions remain unestablished. Here we show that the Fe10Dy10 molecule hosts a 62-billion-dimensional low-energy manifold pervaded by toroidal character, rendered tractable by an ab initio-informed transfer-matrix framework that reproduces experimental data. The model reveals a large toroidal response robust to thermal fluctuations, quantified by a finite-temperature toroidal susceptibility ξ. We then propose a preparation-and-readout protocol in which a train of temporally asymmetric near-infrared pulses accumulates toroidal polarisation, converted through magnetoelectric response into a measurable electric-field-induced magnetic signal. These results establish Fe10Dy10 as a molecular system where τ can be prepared, accumulated and read out under realistic conditions.
Related Concept Videos
¹H NMR of Conformationally Flexible Molecules: Variable-Temperature NMR
Atomic Spectroscopy: Effects of Temperature
At thermal equilibrium, the relative populations of excited and ground state atoms can be estimated using the Maxwell–Boltzmann distribution. For example, an increase in temperature from...
Ferromagnetism
Diamagnetism
Diamagnetism was discovered by Anton Brugmans in 1778 when he observed that bismuth gets repelled by magnetic fields, thus theorizing that diamagnets get repelled by magnets.
Atomic Nuclei: Nuclear Spin State Population Distribution
¹H NMR of Conformationally Flexible Molecules: Temporal Resolution
