Cantilever torque magnetometry on coordination compounds: from theory to experiments

Cantilever Torque Magnetometry (CTM) is one of the leading techniques to deeply understand magnetic anisotropy of coordination compounds. The knowledge of magnetic anisotropy is a mandatory requirement before proceeding with any future application related to the magnetic properties of coordination compounds, such as quantum computation or information storage. This review enlightens that CTM offers a unique combination of accuracy and precision to disentangle noncollinear contributions inside Single Crystals as well as the sensitivity to detect molecular order of thin films. CTM can also detect quantum phenomena such as magnetization steps and molecular hysteresis curves. Moreover, it can also provide the energy levels splitting and wavefunctions composition, especially if coupled with microwave radiation. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.