Lattice Dynamics and Bistability of Electronically Labile Complexes

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This award in the Inorganic, Bioinorganic, and Organometallic Chemistry Program supports research by Dr. David N. Hendrickson of the Chemistry Department, University of California at San Diego, on electronic effects in metal-containing solids. Detailed studies will be carried out on transition metal complexes that have two or more electronic states which are close in energy. For compounds in which vibrational modes are closely coupled with electronic modes, changes in crystal lattice parameters such as those caused by modifying solvent or counterions can result in spin-crossover or phase transitions in response to changes in light or other external parameters. The primary goal of this project is to verify and characterize magnetic bistability in a molecular species, specifically a dodecanuclear manganese compound. Investigation of optically sensitive iron complexes and electronically sensitive cobalt complexes will also continue. The long-term goal of this research is to develop molecules or collections of molecules for use in electronic circuits and devices. Nanoscale devices which change spin, number of electrons, or magnetic properties in response to electric, magnetic, optical, or thermal changes may be useful for switches or information storage. In this research, compounds containing a small number of metal atoms will be tested for sensitivity and specificity of response to external physical stimuli. Only a few examples of molecules in which the magnetic field changes in response to changes in external magnetic field are known, so this research may open a new area of investigation.