Vibration induced electric dipole in a weakly bound molecular complex

Phys Rev Lett. 2002 Dec 16;89(25):253001. doi: 10.1103/PhysRevLett.89.253001. Epub 2002 Dec 3.

Abstract

A strong electric susceptibility is measured as a function of temperature in a molecular dimer which is weakly bound by a pair of hydrogen bonds. This system is a remarkable example where the dominant term in the susceptibility is due to a vibration induced electric dipole. As a consequence, the averaged square of the dipole moment varies linearly with the temperature and the susceptibility does not follow the usual 1/T Curie law. this spectacular effect demonstrates the importance of dynamics to interpret the properties of weakly bound complexes.