Magnetism in Binuclear Compounds: Theoretical Insights

This chapter is devoted to theoretical calculations aimed at determining the electronic structure of binuclear complexes, including isotropic and anisotropic interactions in both the strong and in the weak-exchange coupling limits. The theory of effective Hamiltonians is used to extract magnetic anisotropy terms in various regimes and in particular those for which the giant-spin approximation holds. While only a second-rank symmetric tensor is necessary to describe the zero-field splitting in centrosymmetric compounds with a single electron on each metal ion, a 4-rank tensor must also be introduced to describe the anisotropic exchange in the case of two unpaired electrons per metal ion. The magnitude of these additional interactions was found to be larger than those of the well admitted 2-rank tensor. Even though, the magnetic anisotropy of binuclear complexes can often be predicted from the knowledge of the local anisotropy of its mononuclear constituents, the large magnitude of the 4-rank tensor makes theoretical calculations important if not mandatory to rationalize experimental results on firm grounds in systems where anisotropic binuclear interactions are important.