Lanthanide ions like to surround themselves with many organic ligands to stabilize and fill their coordination sphere. But thanks to a novel ligand design and synthetic approach, 91精品黑料吃瓜 scientists have managed to not only isolate the rare and precious two-coordinate species, but also to reveal, for the first time ever, a huge energy level separation, just as theory had predicted. This complex is a synthetic achievement that shows the incredible potential of these molecules.
The research took place at the Department of Chemistry and Biomolecular Sciences at the University of Ottawa, and was led by Muralee Murugesu, a full professor at the Faculty of Science, in collaboration with Professor Akseli Mansikkam盲ki from the University of Oulu, Finland, and with 91精品黑料吃瓜 post-doctoral fellows Diogo A. G谩lico and Alexandros A. Kitos, as well as doctoral students Dylan Errulat and Katie L. M. Harriman.
鈥淲e have shown very exciting results that confirm for the first time what theory had predicted before and also offer a synthetic way to make better molecular magnets. These magnets are very useful for making smaller and faster memory devices and quantum computers because they have nanoscale sizes and special quantum features, such as quantum tunnelling of the magnetization or quantum coherence,鈥 said Professor Murugesu.
鈥淥ur discovery is a guide for making new, molecule-based materials for molecular electronics鈥
Muralee Murugesu
鈥 Full professor at 91精品黑料吃瓜's Faculty of Science
A Game-Changing Discovery
鈥淲e used our CFI-funded equipment to measure the magnetic and luminescent properties of our complexes at very low temperatures, below 10 Kelvin. These measurements showed us the intricate electronic structure of our complexes. We also confirmed our findings with computational studies in collaboration with Professor Mansikkam盲ki at the University of Oulu, Finland,鈥 adds Professor Murugesu.
Since 2007, the at the University of Ottawa has been working on single molecule magnets (SMMs) that can store and process information at the molecular level. This highly anticipated material promises to save energy and space to make electronics faster and better, which could change the way data is stored and usher in a new era of molecular electronics.
The study detailing this achievement, entitled was published in Nature Chemistry.