Quantum-assisted diamagnetic deflection of molecules

Phys Chem Chem Phys. 2020 Jul 7;22(25):14036-14041. doi: 10.1039/d0cp02211j. Epub 2020 Jun 22.

Abstract

We measure the diamagnetic deflection of anthracene and adamantane in a long-baseline matter-wave interferometer. From the nanometer-level deflection we extract the magnetic susceptibilities of the molecules which we compare with calculations and previous results. Adamantane yields an isotropic average mass susceptibility of -8.0 ± 1.1 m3 kg-1, consistent with expectations, while anthracene yields a higher-than-anticipated value of -13.6 ± 1.3 m3 kg-1. We attribute the high anthracene value to the planar aromatic molecule's magnetic anisotropy and partial alignment in the molecular beam, and estimate the magnitude of the effect on the observed deflection.