Report
Teaser, summary, work performed and final results
Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SIMOF (Single-Molecule Spintronics: a Coordination Chemistry Approach to Quantum Computing)
Teaser
Smaller, faster, cheaper... that was the trend in computing for the past 50 years. At the rate we are going, Moore’s Law –the prediction by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore that transistor density on integrated circuits would double approximately every two years– will come...
Summary
Smaller, faster, cheaper... that was the trend in computing for the past 50 years. At the rate we are going, Moore’s Law –the prediction by Intel co-founder Gordon Moore that transistor density on integrated circuits would double approximately every two years– will come to a shuddering halt. Researchers are exploring whether a new technology, referred to as spintronics, may be the way forward as an alternative to silicon and complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Being a new paradigm for electronics, spintronics utilizes the electron spin and its associated magnetic moment in addition to its charge for device functionality.
So far, spintronics has been based on conventional materials like inorganic metals and semiconductors. However, a new field namely molecular spintronics is emerging that combines the ideas and concepts developed in spintronics with the unique possibilities offered by the molecular magnetic systems to perform electronic functions, to form self-organized nanostructures and to exhibit quantum effects at the nanoscale for quantum computing. The ultimate goals of molecular spintronics and quantum computing are the fabrication of new and cheaper spintronic devices and faster quantum computers using molecules and/or molecule-based materials in the race toward miniaturization.
Work performed
In the framework of the coordination chemistry approach to molecular spintronics and quantum computing, mononuclear first-row transition metal complexes constitute the smallest molecular magnetic systems for quantum data storage and processing applications. Spin crossover (SCO) compounds and single-ion magnets (SIMs), are in their own excellent paradigms of stimuli-responsive multifunctional, bistable magnetic molecules with potential applications in spintronic devices and quantum computers. Therefore, a whole lot of work dedicated to this project has been focussed on the design, synthesis and characterization of the aforementioned SCO-SIM new type molecules based on cobalt(II) complexes with functionalized pyridinediimines (PDI) or terpyridine (terpy)-type ligands. Another part of the work consisted of an original approach targeting addressing individual and multiple SIMs within matrixes such as Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) to produce technology-generating properties. Part of the results have been already presented to the scientific community during international conferences and will soon be submitted for publication via open access to peer-reviewed scientific journals.
Final results
New families of compounds that combine both spin crossover and single-ion magnets properties in one molecule have been synthesized and their properties investigated in order to better understand the impact this type of molecules could play in quantum computing. It is worth mentioning that slight structural modifications can completely change the molecular properties, and therefore a rigorous study is compulsory in order to be able to choose the best systems that fit scientific expectations and could be either developed for further investigation. Hence, future efforts will be devoted to investigate the related family of cobalt(II)-based SCO-SIM molecules with chiral-, optical-, redox-, and/or photoactive imine substituents on the PDI ligands as new examples of multiresponsive and multifunctional magnetic molecules for potential applications in the context of molecular spintronics and quantum computing technologies. Indeed, this ligand design approach offers convenient tools for the rational design of magnetic molecules with one or more specific functions, in addition to the magnetic ones, that are potentially switchable under external stimuli (e.g., thermal variation and light irradiation, electric and magnetic fields, chemical and redox potential, or mechanical force and hydrostatic pressure). This novel class of stimuli-responsive multifunctional SCO-SIMs may thus lead to the discovery of new bistable molecular nanomagnets obtained by rational molecular design, which offer great expectations for the physical implementation of quantum information processing (QIP) in high-density magnetic memory and quantum computing devices.
Website & more info
More info: https://www.icmol.es/.