Evidence for Quantization of Mechanical Rotation of Magnetic Nanoparticles

We report evidence of the quantization of the rotational motion of solid particles containing thousands of atoms. A system of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles confined inside polymeric cavities has been studied. The particles have been characterized by the x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, plasma mass spectroscopy, ferromagnetic resonance (FMR), and magnetization measurements. Magnetic and FMR data confirm the presence of particles that are free to rotate inside the cavities. Equidistant, temperature-independent jumps in the dependence of the microwave absorption on the magnetic field have been detected. This observation is in accordance with the expectation that orbital motion splits the low-field absorption line into multiple lines.