Standing spin waves in an a ntiferro magnetic molecular Cr6 horseshoe

The antiferromagnetic molecular finite chain Cr-6 was studied by inelastic neutron scattering. The observed magnetic excitations at 2.6 and 4.3 meV correspond, due to the open boundaries of a finite chain, to standing spin waves. The determined energy spectrum revealed an essentially classical spin structure. Hence, various spin-wave theories were investigated in order to assess their potential for describing the elementary excitations of finite spin systems. Copyright (c) EPLA, 2007.