Making qubits from magnetic molecules 

Bottom-up synthesis of such molecules provides physicists with a rich playground to study newly
discovered quantum effects and a means to store information at the scale of individual atoms.
Stephen Hill

Physics Today 78 (3), 38–45 (2025);

https://doi.org/10.1063/pt.keiz.kcmn

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04 March 2025 02:10:18

 Stephen Hill is a Distinguished Research Professor in the
department of physics at Florida State University and director
of the electron magnetic resonance user program at the
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee. His
research is focused on condensed-matter experiments.

04 March 2025 02:10:18

Making qubits
from magnetic
molecules
Stephen Hill

Bottom-up synthesis of such molecules provides physicists with a

rich playground to study newly discovered quantum effects and a
means to store information at the scale of individual atoms.

38 PHYSICS TODAY | MARCH 2025

 04 March 2025 02:10:18

Tb Dy I N C

The evolution of magnetic molecules. ­Lanthanide-­based [Tb(Pc)2]− (top left) and [Dy(Cpttt)2]+ (top right) have oblate 4f densities
(exaggerated here) that enhance magnetic anisotropy. Two lanthanide atoms can increase the magnetic moment; examples include
[(Cp2Me4HTb)2N2]− (bottom right) and (CpiPr5)2Dy2I3 (bottom left), which has shared dysprosium 5dz2 orbitals. (Pc2− is a phthalocyanine
dianion, and Cp−, a cyclopentadienyl anion; superscripts refer to organic substitutions on Cp− rings.)
MARCH 2025 | PHYSICS TODAY 39
MAGNETIC MOLECULES

T
he idea that a molecule could act as a magnet that manifests previously un-
observed quantum behavior can be traced to theoretical predictions of a mag-
netic analogue to quantum mechanical tunneling of a particle through a po-
tential energy barrier. The magnetic version would involve tunneling through
an energy barrier that hinders reorientation of the magnet’s north and south
poles. Observation of the effect would require measurements on nanoscale objects that are
much smaller than any that could be fabricated via the top-down methods—­involving
shrinking larger objects—that were available at the time that the idea first emerged.
An important breakthrough came from studies of molec- (discrete orientations) on each side of the barrier, as opposed
ular metal oxide clusters created via bottom-up, atom-by- to just the up and down states for a single electron.
atom chemical synthesis. The molecules were designed to A magnetic field applied along the preferred magnetization
mimic protein reaction centers, which play important roles axis—the so-called easy axis—tilts the energy landscape to
in various biological processes, including photosynthesis. favor states with aligned (up) magnetic moments (see figure
They would lead to the first demonstration of magnetic bista- 1b). When the field is swept, magnetic levels on opposite sides
bility—in which a magnetic dipole can be switched between of the energy barrier are brought into and out of resonance.
the up and down metastable states—of purely molecular When on resonance, the magnetization has a finite probability
origin1 and give rise to the term “single-molecule magnet.” of tunneling through the barrier. Through QTM, SMMs with
An SMM is an isolated molecule that can be magnetized and magnetic moments pointing down may reorient, or relax, to-

04 March 2025 02:10:18

retain alignment of its north and south poles below a charac- ward the up state; in contrast, classical relaxation over the
teristic temperature, known as the blocking temperature. energy barrier requires the help of thermal energy. As a man-
Magnetic bistability can be observed through hysteresis, ifestation of QTM, steps in the macroscopic magnetization of
in which magnetic behavior is history dependent. The under- the crystal thus reveal the quantum nature of the Mn12 SMMs.
lying physics of magnetic bistability in tiny particles was estab- The discovery of resonant QTM opened up a new play-
lished by research on nanoparticles that were fabricated via ground for physicists to explore quantum magnetization
traditional top-down methods for their potential use in classi- dynamics. Meanwhile, chemists realized that they could
cal information storage. As shown by the gray line in figure 1a, exert remarkable synthetic control over the magnetic inter-
the particles will retain a preferred magnetic alignment, or actions responsible for QTM and the magnetic energy bar-
polarity, while being subjected to a changing magnetic field, rier. The result was an interdisciplinary field that continues
until the applied field is strong enough to reverse the polarity. to grow.
The first SMM ever made contained 12 magnetic manga- Much effort has been directed toward increasing SMM
nese ions (see figure 1a), coupled by weak interactions through blocking temperatures, with the lofty goal of designing
bridging oxygen atoms; that coupling produces a ground SMMs that function as classical memory storage at liquid-­
state with a collective magnetic moment of 20 µB (1 µB is the nitrogen temperatures (77 K) and above. That would enable
magnitude of a lone electron’s magnetic moment). The energy data storage densities of 100 Tb/in2 (16 Tb/cm2), two orders
barrier to reorientation of that moment is rather low, about of magnitude higher than modern commercial devices. But
6 meV, and results in a blocking temperature of just 4 K. therein lies a fundamental tension: QTM accelerates magne-
Above that temperature, thermal excitations cause the align- tization relaxation and is, therefore, detrimental to classical
ment of the magnetic moment to fluctuate (see figure 1b). information storage. Physicists, however, recognized that
magnetic molecules could potentially lead to next-generation
Quantum tunneling of magnetization quantum technologies.
A significant discovery arose from studies of Mn12 crystals: Indeed, early theoretical work demonstrated the possibil-
periodic steps in magnetic hysteresis curves2 (see figure 1a). ity of performing a quantum search algorithm using the dis-
The behavior is attributed to the previously predicted quan- crete states of the Mn12 molecule.3 That led to a bifurcation of
tum tunneling of magnetization (QTM). Analogous to the effort: Work continued on improving SMM properties for
quantized energy levels of a particle in a box, the allowed classical data storage, while a new thrust emerged on devel-
magnetic-moment orientations and the corresponding ener- oping molecular spin qubits.
gies of an SMM are quantized (see figure 1b). Because Mn12 Improving SMMs for classical data storage would require
has 20 unpaired electrons, there are multiple quantum states shutting down QTM and creating molecules with signifi-
40 PHYSICS TODAY | MARCH 2025
a b
M
p Classical orientation
ee
Sw

...

Energy barrier
B Thermally
assisted QTM

QTM
p Down
ee
Sw B
Up

FIGURE 1. (a) THE CLASSICAL MAGNETIZATION RESPONSE (gray lines) of nanomagnets subjected to an applied magnetic field B
contrasts with the stepwise response (green lines) of single-molecule magnets (SMMs), such as manganese-12 acetate, shown at
center1 (Mn4+, pink; Mn3+, purple; oxygen, red; carbon, gray). At low temperatures, the magnetization M saturates when the applied field is
strong enough to overcome the energy barrier to spin reorientation (red and blue arrows). Stepwise relaxation is produced by quantum
tunneling of magnetization (QTM).2 (b) The classical dependence of energy on magnetic orientation is shown by the black curve;
horizontal lines denote quantized SMM energy levels. An applied magnetic field tilts the energy landscape to favor up-oriented magnetic
moments. Classical magnetization reversal occurs via thermal activation over the barrier. Relaxation through the barrier can occur by QTM
with or without the input of thermal energy.

04 March 2025 02:10:18

cantly greater energy barriers. Molecular symmetry, which thus they enhance the orbital contribution to magnetism rel-
chemists can control, plays a crucial role: In a cylindrically ative to transition metals.
symmetric system, the magnetic quantum states are orthog- For Ln compounds, the energy barrier arises from the
onal, so QTM does not occur. Although no molecule has electrostatic interaction between the anisotropic 4f electron
perfect cylindrical symmetry, maintaining a high symmetry density and the electric field imposed by the host ligands—
helps. (Mn12 has a fourfold axial symmetry, as seen in figure the nonmagnetic, often organic portion of the molecule that
1a). Increasing the collective magnetic moment of an SMM bonds to the magnetic ion. Emerging design strategies, pri-
also suppresses QTM, in the same way that increasing parti- marily involving dysprosium and Tb,5 have produced a huge
cle size diminishes the probability of spatial tunneling. number of new SMMs with barriers exceeding Mn12 by more
A molecule’s magnetic moment arises from both the or- than an order of magnitude.
bital and spin momenta of unpaired electrons. It is the orbital Tb3+ and Dy3+ make the best SMMs because they have large
momentum that responds to the local molecular structure spin–orbital magnetic moments and the most pronounced
and produces the interactions that pin the magnetic moment anisotropies of their 4f electron densities. Dy3+ also benefits
along a preferred axis. Transition metals’ d orbital electrons from a fundamental theorem in quantum mechanics for sys-
tend to participate in chemical bonding, which dramatically tems with an odd number of unpaired electrons (Dy3+ has
suppresses the orbital momentum and results in low SMM five); the theorem strictly forbids QTM in the absence of a
energy barriers. That fundamental limitation brought work magnetic field. Despite the much larger classical energy
with transition metals to a stall. barriers in Ln-based SMMs, however, increases in blocking
temperature were initially modest. The main reason is the
Transition to lanthanides onset of additional through-barrier relaxation via thermally
A major advance was made when a single terbium ion encap- assisted mechanisms involving QTM (see figure 1b) and
sulated between two dianions of the organic molecule phtha- short-lived virtual quantum states produced by vibrationally
locyanine (Pc2−; shown in the top left of the opening image) assisted Raman processes.
was found to display SMM behavior with a classical energy Researchers recognized that the optimum SMMs, de-
barrier of about 75 meV, more than an order-of-magnitude signed for pseudo-cylindrical symmetry, would involve Dy3+
increase relative to Mn12.4 The magnetism of Tb3+ and other with axial ligands but no equatorial ligands, which would
lanthanide (Ln) ions arises from unpaired electrons in con- disrupt symmetry and promote QTM. It required some re-
tracted 4f orbitals. Unlike d orbital electrons, those unpaired markable chemistry to realize such a molecule (Dy(Cp)2;
electrons do not participate directly in chemical bonding, and see the opening image, top right), which includes a pair of
MARCH 2025 | PHYSICS TODAY 41
MAGNETIC MOLECULES

a b 3
Pulse start Pulse end possess an unpaired electron. Direct over-
S
lap of the Ln 4f density with the diffuse spin

ΔPL/PL (%)
2
density on the ligand leads to enhanced mag-
Lum
n

CrL4
tio

netic interactions. By bridging two Tb3+

inesc

1
excita

ions with a N3-2 radical (see the opening

ence

image, bottom right), Jeffrey Long, William

Photo

0
0.0 0.5 1.0 Evans, and coworkers achieved an SMM
T± MW
T0 T MICROWAVE PULSE with a large spin–orbital moment and a
LENGTH (µs) blocking temperature of 14 K,7 which held
the record until the discovery of Dy(Cp)2.
FIGURE 2. SPIN-DEPENDENT OPTICAL ACTIVITY means that a microwave- Coupling via the extra, odd radical elec-
controlled qubit state is observable via photoluminescence (PL). (a) Excitation from
tron also shuts down QTM, leading to
the ground triplet level T0 to the excited singlet state S and accompanying
luminescence back to the T0 , T+, or T− triplet level drives the spin population (blue greatly enhanced magnetic coercivity (the
circles) from T0 into the T± states, which alters PL intensity. Manipulation of the spin field needed to flip the magnetization of the
population between triplet states using pulsed microwave (MW) radiation can thus SMM). One may rationalize that effect on
be monitored via changes in PL intensity. (b) Coherent microwave cycling, known as the basis that simultaneous QTM of two Ln
Rabi oscillation, of the spin population between triplet levels is measured by changes moments is far less probable than one. The
in PL emissions; the inset depicts the CrL4 molecule, with parts of the ligand (L) that Ln moments, however, may start to relax
are amenable to chemical tuning highlighted. (Images adapted from ref. 12.)
independently once the thermal energy ex-
ceeds the coupling interaction energy.
Moreover, the side-by-side arrangement
cyclopentadienyl (Cp−) ligands6 and has a sandwich structure reduces the overall axiality at each Ln site in the SMM (shown
similar to Tb(Pc)2 (see the opening image, top left). There are in the opening image, bottom right). Those factors contribute
some key differences, however: Compared with Pc2−, Cp− is to relatively low blocking temperatures. Consequently, a set

04 March 2025 02:10:18

more compact, which produces a much stronger interaction of even-more-demanding design challenges emerges: further
with the oblate Dy3+ 4f electron density and leads to a huge enhancing Ln–Ln coupling while also maintaining axiality.
classical energy barrier of about 250 meV. The strongest magnetic coupling (up to an electron volt)
Bulky substituents—affectionately termed “shrubbery”— arises between electrons that reside on the same atom or oc-
on Cp− rings prevent equatorial interactions with the Dy that cupy the same set of molecular orbitals. The question, then, is
promote QTM. Cp− rings are also extremely rigid, which whether direct magnetic orbital overlap within a Ln2 mole-
leads to high-frequency intramolecular vibrations. Addition- cule can be achieved. The contracted nature of the 4f shell
ally, the shrubbery lowers intermolecular phonon frequen- makes that almost impossible for Ln3+. In some cases, how-
cies so that vibrations are sparse in the intermediate fre- ever, an electron added to a Ln3+ ion (reducing the oxidation
quency range required to promote under-barrier Raman state to Ln2+) will occupy a more extended 5d orbital rather
relaxation. The resulting Dy(Cp)2 SMM maximizes perfor- than the open 4f shell. The 5d orbital offers a possible strategy
mance based on the magnitude of the barrier, with blocking for achieving direct orbital overlap. Long and coworkers have
temperatures that approach 77 K.6 employed that approach by sandwiching a pair of Dy ions be-
tween two rigid Cp– ligands, with three iodide (I–) ligands hold-
Fundamental limits ing everything together8 (see the opening image, bottom left).
Despite remarkable progress, SMMs based on single Ln 3+
In the (Cp)2Dy2I3 molecule, an extra electron is shared be-
ions have hit fundamental limits. Their magnetic moments tween the Dy3+ ions. It occupies overlapping, hybridized 5d
are dictated by atomic, not molecular, considerations. And orbitals, thus mediating strong magnetic coupling. The result
molecular chemistry does not allow further concentration of is a highly robust and large spin–orbital magnetic moment.
negative axial charge close to Ln3+ ions. Work on other oxida- Moreover, the molecular geometry is highly axial, which
tion states (Ln2+ and Ln4+) is challenging and runs into the gives rise to a classical energy barrier of about 300 meV.
same issues. Hence, there is little scope for improvement. The Blocking temperatures that approach 80 K emerge, with a
only solution, therefore, is to couple multiple Ln ions. That, coercivity exceeding 14 T at 60 K, surpassing even the coer-
however, represents a monumental task. Standard synthetic civity of commercial samarium and neodymium magnets.
strategies tend to result in weak coupling between Ln mag-
netic moments because of the contracted nature of 4f orbitals, Molecular spin qubits
particularly for Ln3+. The moments therefore tend to relax With the goal of classical storage in mind, the best examples
independently in molecules containing multiple Ln3+ ions. of SMMs have been optimized to suppress QTM and behave
One solution to weak coupling involves bridging the classically. But quantum effects are appealing for a different
ions with ligands that are radicals—that is, they themselves type of memory application: the molecular spin qubit.
42 PHYSICS TODAY | MARCH 2025
a

FIGURE 3. (a) A SINGLE-MOLECULE TRANSISTOR

Energy
encodes information in the nuclear spin states of a single
molecule. The single-molecule magnet Tb(Pc)2 is anchored
to gold source and drain electrodes. White arrows denote
current flow; the orange arrow represents the electronic
spin–orbital moment, and the inset depicts the four nuclear
hyperfine levels encoding the qudit states |00⟩, |01⟩, |10⟩,
and |11⟩. (b) In a magnetic field, the unequal splitting of the
four nuclear hyperfine levels (here normalized by Planck’s
constant h) allows selective microwave mixing of nuclear
states (colored arrows). Resonant quantum tunneling of
magnetization (QTM) occurs when hyperfine levels associated
with the same nuclear state meet (colored rectangles),
whereupon they mix and undergo a so-called avoided
crossing (inset). At ultralow temperatures (25 mK), that
manifests as a jump in the transistor’s conductance at specific
b values of the applied magnetic field, which enables electronic
readout of the nuclear qudit. (Images adapted from ref. 13.)
Up
wn
20 Do
ENERGY/h (GHz)

15 and I first demonstrated a method to link pairs of mag-

netic molecules and observe the quantum mechanical
coupling between them,9 akin to the coupling between
10 spin qubits hosted in semiconductor quantum dots.
The simplest molecular spin qubit comprises a sin-
gle unpaired electron: a quantum two-level system that

04 March 2025 02:10:18

5
is agile and can be coherently driven using microwave
electromagnetic fields. In 2007, Arzhang Ardavan and
0 coworkers considered the question of whether spin
|00⟩ |01⟩ |10⟩ |11⟩ relaxation times in such a molecule, Cr7Ni, would per-
mit quantum information processing.10 They concluded
that energy relaxation (the decay between classical
spin-up and spin-down states, also known as spin–­
CONDUCTANCE
(arbitrary units)

lattice relaxation) is slow, and quantum memory times

are limited by the coupling of spin qubits to the nuclear
magnetic moments of surrounding hydrogens—that
is, protons—of which there are typically many in mo-
lecular systems. Importantly, that work identified strat-
egies for synthesizing molecules with improved quan-
tum memory times, also known as coherence times.
The first wave of studies that followed focused on
understanding and mitigating processes that contribute
−60 −20 20 60 to electron spin relaxation in molecular qubits. The mo-
MAGNETIC FIELD (mT) lecular approach enables exquisite chemical control in a
way that is simply not possible in conventional solids.
For example, by exploiting variations in the identity,
rigidity, and coordination geometry of the ligands,
The beauty of molecular chemistry is in its building-block chemists can exert direct control over the interactions that in-
approach. Start with a promising molecular spin system, fluence spin–lattice relaxation.11 That control is important be-
make deliberate synthetic modifications to fine-tune the spin cause spin–lattice relaxation ultimately limits quantum mem-
physics and coherence, build in additional functionality such ory times, particularly at the elevated temperatures necessary
as optical or electrical activity, and, finally, add linkers to fa- for quantum sensing.
cilitate intermolecular connectivity and attachment to suitable Low-temperature electron spin decoherence is mediated
substrates. To a good approximation, each molecular spin primarily by magnetic coupling to protons, which have large
qubit and the associated linkers are identical, which makes moments relative to other nuclei. That coupling results in un-
the approach scalable. In 2003, George Christou, colleagues, wanted entanglement with the environment. Nuclear isotope
MARCH 2025 | PHYSICS TODAY 43
 MAGNETIC MOLECULES

a b

n
Δ ow
D
FREQUENCY

Clock U
transition p

MAGNETIC FIELD

FIGURE 4. (a) CLOCK TRANSITIONS are avoided crossings between up and down magnetic states at certain values of the magnetic field.
That physics is responsible for mixing single-molecule magnet (SMM) quantum states with opposing magnetizations; the gap minimum
reflects the quantum tunneling of magnetization (QTM) frequency. The ideal SMM for classical memory storage has no gap (dashed lines). By
contrast, spin qubits benefit from large QTM gap minima, where the transition frequency Δ is insensitive to magnetic field fluctuations, which
leads to enhanced quantum memory coherence.15 (b) The molecule Ho(W5O18)2 is shown here with an expanded view of its core. An applied

04 March 2025 02:10:18

electric field E displaces the Ho3+ ion from the midplane, thereby tuning the clock-transition frequency Δ. (Image adapted from ref. 16.)

labeling—for example, replacing 1H with 2H—allows for in- The combination of those two properties allows selective laser
vestigation of the physics and a means of controlling it. Also, excitation from a targeted triplet level into the singlet state,
by diluting molecular qubits in either solid or frozen solution followed by nonselective emission back to the triplet states.
matrices to suppress electron spin–spin relaxation, research- The system can be initialized by optically pumping the
ers have achieved quantum memory times approaching milli­ spin population out of the given triplet level (see figure 2a).
seconds at liquid-helium temperatures and microseconds at Microwave pulses can then be used to perform single-qubit
room temperature.11 operations between the triplet levels (see figure 2b), with a
Chemists and physicists are now working collaboratively final readout of the spin population achieved by monitor-
on the next steps. Spin manipulation is usually achieved ing changes in the photoluminescence emission. Crucially,
using magnetic resonance techniques, although they lack chemists can fine-tune the optical–spin interface to move the
detection sensitivity and spatial resolution because of the field forward.12
millimeter microwave wavelengths employed at typical lab-
oratory magnetic field strengths of 0–10 T. A major attraction A single-molecule transistor
of the nitrogen–vacancy (NV) defect center in diamond is its One of the landmark results in molecular magnetism is the
spin-dependent optical activity, which enables initialization implementation of a quantum search algorithm that uses the
and readout of individual qubits (see the article by Christo- nuclear spin states associated with a Tb(Pc)2 SMM trapped in
pher Anderson and David Awschalom, Physics Today, Au- a single-molecule transistor13 (see figure 3a). The method re-
gust 2023, page 26). As demonstrated by Danna Freedman, lies on the bistability of the Tb3+ ion’s spin–orbital moment,
David Awschalom, and colleagues, one can chemically engi- which can flip via resonant QTM only when there are
neer the same optical–spin interfaces in molecules.12 avoided crossings, or gaps, between the lowest two electronic
The Cr4+ ion has two electrons in partially filled d orbitals. levels at specific magnetic field intensities (see figure 3b).
A strong ligand then provides the necessary ingredients for Because of hyperfine coupling to the 159Tb nucleus, those lev-
optical spin-state initialization and readout. Those ingredients, els are further split into four nuclear sublevels. Consequently,
sketched in figure 2, are a triplet ground state with aligned the Tb3+ spin–orbital moment is sensitive to the quantum state
electron spins that can be coherently manipulated, using mi- of the nuclear qudit—a quantum system with d states, four
crowaves and narrow absorption lines in the near-IR, to an in this case—and, when the spin–orbital moment flips, it in-
excited singlet state in which the spins are oppositely aligned. duces a jump in the conductance of the transistor.
44 PHYSICS TODAY | MARCH 2025
 The magnetic field of the conductance jump therefore systems will be to prevent quenching of the orbital moment
provides a direct readout of the molecule’s nuclear state. It is that imparts the required magnetic anisotropy.
then possible to perform quantum logic operations on the It will also be important to develop methods for addressing
nuclear qudit states with selective microwave pulses and use individual SMMs on nanometer length scales, which will re-
the transistor for the final readout of the nuclear qudit state. quire approaches for organizing molecules on surfaces or at
Working in such a system, Wolfgang Wernsdorfer and co- interfaces.18 That will be challenging because the current lead-
workers generated a coherent superposition of the nuclear ing SMMs have an absence of equatorial ligands, which makes
states and then used the transistor’s localized microwave them highly reactive in all but the most inert environments.
electric fields to evolve the system to the desired quantum In the area of quantum spin science, one can envision near-
state, thereby demonstrating, for the first time, the feasibility term sensing applications, perhaps in combination with tar-
of molecular-scale quantum logic devices.14 geted chemical sensitivity, something that is harder to achieve
Symmetry-lowering interactions in molecules such as using existing solid-state spin qubits, such as NV centers. Re-
Tb(Pc)2 generate the avoided crossings between electronic lev- alization of such applications will require further optimization
els; the size of the gap reflects the QTM frequency and is dic- of spin–lattice relaxation times for high-temperature operation.
tated by the degree of symmetry breaking. In 2016, some col- Although devices based on spin ensembles will surely have
leagues and I showed that a holmium molecule, Ho(W5O18)2, some utility, those applications should spur further chemical
with pseudo-fourfold symmetry, hosts so-called clock transi- optimizations, with the ultimate goal of single-spin sensors.
tions (see figure 4a), where the sensitivity of the qubit transi- In the longer term, wiring together molecular spin qubits
tion frequency to the variations in the local magnetic field is a critical step toward developing quantum logic gates. That
vanishes.15 (See Physics Today, May 2016, page 17.) That prop- will require chemical design of molecules with multiple
erty results in decoupling of the qubit from most magnetic quantum resources, such as electron–nuclear qudits and mol-
noise sources and leads to enhanced coherence and quantum ecules with many coupled spin qubits. Further scale-up will
memory times approaching 10 μs at 5 K. require hybrid approaches that use optical or microwave
Recent work has demonstrated electrical coupling to the photons or molecular wires, such as graphene ribbons,18 to
spin in the Ho(W5O18)2 molecule.16 An electric field applied interconnect individual molecular spin qubits and for

04 March 2025 02:10:18

along the pseudo-fourfold axis influences the displacement of longer-­range communications. Here, one can imagine selec-
the Ho3+ ion away from the midplane (see figure 4b), thereby tively entangling pairs of molecular qubits by electrically
affecting the ion’s electric dipole moment. In turn, that displace- bringing them into and out of resonance with a microwave
ment modulates the clock-transition frequency, again demon- transmission line. With continued rapid progress, there are
strating the possibility of local electrical control of a spin qubit. real possibilities that molecules can contribute to next-gener-
A drawback of Ho(W5O18)2 is fast spin–lattice relaxation, ation quantum communication and computing.
which ultimately limits the quantum memory time. That is
because of the strong electronic coupling of the anisotropic The author’s research is supported by the US Department of Energy
4f charge density to ligand vibrations. Several lutetium (Lu2+) (DE-SC0019330), the Office of Naval Research (N62909-23-1-2079),
molecules have now been synthesized with a filled 4f shell NSF (CHE-2300779 and DMR-2128556), and the state of Florida.
and a lone unpaired electron occupying a mixed 5d/6s orbital.
One of those molecules has a large clock-transition frequency
of 9 GHz.17 Crucially, the molecules have an almost-pure spin REFERENCES
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MARCH 2025 | PHYSICS TODAY 45