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The X-ray-induced spin crossover transition of an Fe (II) molecular thin film in the presence and absence of a magnetic field has been investigated. The thermal activation energy barrier in the soft X-ray activation of the spin crossover transition for [Fe{H2B(pz)2}2(bipy)] molecular thin films is reduced in the presence of an applied magnetic field, as measured through X-ray absorption spectroscopy at various temperatures. The influence of a 1.8 T magnetic field is sufficient to cause deviations from the expected exponential spin state transition behavior which is measured in the field free case. We find that orbital moment diminishes with increasing temperature, relative to the spin moment in the vicinity of room temperature.
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Direct observation of the magnetic anisotropy of an Fe(II) spin crossover molecular thin film
Abstract In this work, we provide clear evidence of magnetic anisotropy in the local orbital moment of a molecular thin film based on the SCO complex [Fe(H2B(pz)2)2(bipy)] (pz = pyrazol−1−yl, bipy = 2,2′−bipyridine). Field dependent x-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements indicate that the magnetic easy axis for the orbital moment is along the surface normal direction. Along with the presence of a critical field, our observation points to the existence of an anisotropic energy barrier in the high-spin state. The estimated nonzero coupling constant of ∼2.47 × 10−5eV molecule−1indicates that the observed magnetocrystalline anisotropy is mostly due to spin–orbit coupling. The spin- and orbital-component anisotropies are determined to be 30.9 and 5.04 meV molecule−1, respectively. Furthermore, the estimatedgfactor in the range of 2.2–2.45 is consistent with the expected values. This work has paved the way for an understanding of the spin-state-switching mechanism in the presence of magnetic perturbations.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2003057
- PAR ID:
- 10430958
- Publisher / Repository:
- IOP Publishing
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Physics: Materials
- Volume:
- 6
- Issue:
- 3
- ISSN:
- 2515-7639
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- Article No. 035010
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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