Molecular layer deposition of an organic-based magnetic semiconducting laminate

Permanent Porosity in the Room-Temperature Magnet and Magnonic Material V(TCNE)2

Materials that simultaneously exhibit permanent porosity and high-temperature magnetic order could lead to advances in fundamental physics and numerous emerging technologies. Herein, we show that the archetypal molecule-based magnet and magnonic material V(TCNE)₂ (TCNE = tetracyanoethylene) can be desolvated to generate a room-temperature microporous magnet. The solution-phase reaction of V(CO)₆ with TCNE yields V(TCNE)₂·0.95CH₂Cl₂, for which a characteristic temperature of T* = 646 K is estimated from a Bloch fit to variable-temperature magnetization data. Removal of the solvent under reduced pressure affords the activated compound V(TCNE)₂, which exhibits a T* value of 590 K and permanent microporosity (Langmuir surface area of 850 m²/g). The porous structure of V(TCNE)₂ is accessible to the small gas molecules H₂, N₂, O₂, CO₂, ethane, and ethylene. While V(TCNE)₂ exhibits thermally activated electron transfer with O₂, all the other studied gases engage in physisorption. The T* value of V(TCNE)₂ is slightly modulated upon adsorption of H₂ (T* = 583 K) or CO₂ (T* = 596 K), while it decreases more significantly upon ethylene insertion (T* = 459 K). These results provide an initial demonstration of microporosity in a room-temperature magnet and highlight the possibility of further incorporation of small-molecule guests, potentially even molecular qubits, toward future applications.

Atomic/molecular layer deposition of Ni-terephthalate thin films

Atomic/molecular layer deposition (ALD/MLD) is currently strongly emerging as an intriguing route for novel metal-organic thin-film materials. This approach already covers a variety of metal and organic components, and potential applications related to e.g. sustainable energy technologies. Among the 3d metal components, nickel has remained unexplored so far. Here we report a robust and efficient ALD/MLD process for the growth of high-quality nickel terephthalate thin films. The films are deposited from Ni(thd)₂ (thd: 2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-3,5-heptanedionate) and terephthalic acid (1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid) precursors in the temperature range of 180-280 °C, with appreciably high growth rates up to 2.3 Å per cycle at 200 °C. The films are amorphous but the local structure and chemical state of the films are addressed based on XRR, FTIR and RIXS techniques.

Vapor phase processing: a novel approach for fabricating functional hybrid materials

Materials science is nowadays facing challenges in optimizing properties of materials which are needed for numerous technological applications and include, but are not limited to, mechanics, electronics, optics, etc. The key issue is that for emerging applications materials are needed which incorporate certain properties from polymers or biopolymers and metals or ceramics at the same time, thus fabrication of functional hybrid materials becomes inevitable. Routes for the synthesis of functional hybrid materials can be manifold. Among the explored routes vapor phase processing is a rather novel approach which opts for compatibility with many existing industrial processes. This topical review summarizes the most important approaches and achievements in the synthesis of functional hybrid materials through vapor phase routes with the goal to fabricate suitable hybrid materials for future mechanical, electronic, optical or biomedical applications. Most of the approaches rely on atomic layer deposition (ALD) and techniques related to this process, including molecular layer deposition (MLD) and vapor phase infiltration (VPI), or variations of chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The thus fabricated hybrid materials or nanocomposites often show exceptional physical or chemical properties, which result from synergies of the hybridized materials families. Even though the research in this field is still in its infancy, the initial results encourage further development and promise great application potential in a large variety of applications fields such as flexible electronics, energy conversion or storage, functional textile, and many more.

Flexible ε-Fe2O3-Terephthalate Thin-Film Magnets through ALD/MLD

Pliable and lightweight thin-film magnets performing at room temperature are indispensable ingredients of the next-generation flexible electronics. However, conventional inorganic magnets based on f-block metals are rigid and heavy, whereas the emerging organic/molecular magnets are inferior regarding their magnetic characteristics. Here we fuse the best features of the two worlds, by tailoring ε-Fe₂O₃-terephthalate superlattice thin films with inbuilt flexibility due to the thin organic layers intimately embedded within the ferrimagnetic ε-Fe₂O₃ matrix; these films are also sustainable as they do not contain rare heavy metals. The films are grown with sub-nanometer-scale accuracy from gaseous precursors using the atomic/molecular layer deposition (ALD/MLD) technique. Tensile tests confirm the expected increased flexibility with increasing organic content reaching a 3-fold decrease in critical bending radius (2.4 ± 0.3 mm) as compared to ε-Fe₂O₃ thin film (7.7 ± 0.3 mm). Most remarkably, these hybrid ε-Fe₂O₃-terephthalate films do not compromise the exceptional intrinsic magnetic characteristics of the ε-Fe₂O₃ phase, in particular the ultrahigh coercive force (∼2 kOe) even at room temperature.

Crystal structure of cyclo-tris-(μ-3,4,5,6-tetra-fluoro-o-phenyl-ene-κ(2) C (1):C (2))trimercury-tetra-cyano-ethyl-ene (1/1)

The title compound, [Hg3(C6F4)3]·C6N4, contains one mol-ecule of tetra-cyano-ethyl-ene B per one mol-ecule of mercury macrocycle A, i.e., A•B, and crystallizes in the monoclinic space group C2/c. Macrocycle A and mol-ecule B both occupy special positions on a twofold rotation axis and the inversion centre, respectively. The supra-molecular unit [A•B] is built by the simultaneous coordination of one of the nitrile N atoms of B to the three mercury atoms of the macrocycle A. The Hg⋯N distances range from 2.990 (4) to 3.030 (4) Å and are very close to those observed in the related adducts of the macrocycle A with other nitrile derivatives. The mol-ecule of B is almost perpendicular to the mean plane of the macrocycle A at the dihedral angle of 88.20 (5)°. The donor-acceptor Hg⋯N inter-actions do not affect the C N bond lengths [1.136 (6) and 1.140 (6) Å]. The trans nitrile group of B coordinates to another macrocycle A, forming an infinite mixed-stack [A•B]∞ architecture toward [101]. The remaining N atoms of two nitrile groups of B are not engaged in any donor-acceptor inter-actions. In the crystal, the mixed stacks are held together by inter-molecular C-F⋯C N secondary inter-actions [2.846 (5)-2.925 (5) Å].

Chemical Vapor Deposition of an Organic Magnet, Vanadium Tetracyanoethylene

Recent progress in the field of organic materials has yielded devices such as organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) which have advantages not found in traditional materials, including low cost and mechanical flexibility. In a similar vein, it would be advantageous to expand the use of organics into high frequency electronics and spin-based electronics. This work presents a synthetic process for the growth of thin films of the room temperature organic ferrimagnet, vanadium tetracyanoethylene (V[TCNE]x, x~2) by low temperature chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The thin film is grown at <60 °C, and can accommodate a wide variety of substrates including, but not limited to, silicon, glass, Teflon and flexible substrates. The conformal deposition is conducive to pre-patterned and three-dimensional structures as well. Additionally this technique can yield films with thicknesses ranging from 30 nm to several microns. Recent progress in optimization of film growth creates a film whose qualities, such as higher Curie temperature (600 K), improved magnetic homogeneity, and narrow ferromagnetic resonance line-width (1.5 G) show promise for a variety of applications in spintronics and microwave electronics.

Thin-film deposition of an organic magnet based on vanadium methyl tricyanoethylenecarboxylate

The preparation and characterization of a new thin-film organic-based magnet V[MeTCEC]x (V = vanadium; MeTCEC = methyl tricaynoethylenecarboxylate) via low-temperature chemical vapor deposition (50 °C) is reported. These thin films exhibit room-temperature magnetic ordering and semiconducting behavior, demonstrating the ability of tuning their magnetic, and potentially spintronic, functionality via chemical modification of the organic ligand.

Organic and inorganic-organic thin film structures by molecular layer deposition: A review

The possibility to deposit purely organic and hybrid inorganic-organic materials in a way parallel to the state-of-the-art gas-phase deposition method of inorganic thin films, i.e., atomic layer deposition (ALD), is currently experiencing a strongly growing interest. Like ALD in case of the inorganics, the emerging molecular layer deposition (MLD) technique for organic constituents can be employed to fabricate high-quality thin films and coatings with thickness and composition control on the molecular scale, even on complex three-dimensional structures. Moreover, by combining the two techniques, ALD and MLD, fundamentally new types of inorganic-organic hybrid materials can be produced. In this review article, we first describe the basic concepts regarding the MLD and ALD/MLD processes, followed by a comprehensive review of the various precursors and precursor pairs so far employed in these processes. Finally, we discuss the first proof-of-concept experiments in which the newly developed MLD and ALD/MLD processes are exploited to fabricate novel multilayer and nanostructure architectures by combining different inorganic, organic and hybrid material layers into on-demand designed mixtures, superlattices and nanolaminates, and employing new innovative nanotemplates or post-deposition treatments to, e.g., selectively decompose parts of the structure. Such layer-engineered and/or nanostructured hybrid materials with exciting combinations of functional properties hold great promise for high-end technological applications.