Magnetic behavior of the giant Heisenberg molecular magnet Mo_72Fe_30: Classical theory and experiment

The Keplerate species Mo_72Fe_30 containing 30 high-spin Fe^3+ ions, is by far the largest paramagnetic molecule synthesized to date, and it serves as an effective building block and prototype for a new class of diverse molybdenum-oxygen based compounds. These substances are of importance for identifying the most pertinent criteria for the passage from microscopic to macroscopic magnetism, and for their potential as molecular-based electronic and magnetic devices. We report excellent agreement, from room temperature down to 0.1 K, and for magnetic fields up to 60 Tesla between our theoretical results based on the classical Heisenberg model and our measurements of its magnetic properties.