Magnetic properties of atomic clusters and endohedral metallofullerenes

Magnetic clusters are aggregates of a few to thousands of atoms or molecules that exhibit magnetism. Understanding the evolution of magnetism from individual atom to bulk solid is fundamentally important, and combining different types and number of atoms would lead to many opportunities in tuning magnetic properties of an alloy cluster. The magnetic behaviors of a cluster can be measured by the Stern–Gerlach deflections or the X-ray magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy in a molecular beam and calculated by ab initio methods. Herein we present a comprehensive review on the experimental and theoretical progresses on the magnetic properties of the ligand-free gas-phase clusters up to a few hundred atoms, including elemental metal clusters, alloy clusters, metal-doped semiconductor clusters, magnetic superatom clusters. Endohedral metallofullerenes, a special kind of magnetic clusters, are also briefly illustrated.