Hybrid Molecular Interfaces for Spintronics

Contact: Valentin Dediu, Ilaria Bergenti, Alberto Riminucci

Interfacing molecular layers with metallic ferromagnetic (FM) or oxide antiferromagnetic (AFM) layers induces significant variations of key and device-relevant magnetic parameters in both FM and AFM. For example, it enhances the Magnetic Anisotropy in FM-based systems and induces significant modifications in the exchange bias and the blocking temperatures in AFM. The two cases strikingly differ by the strength and the nature of the interfacial interactions, establishing strong covalent bonding at metal/molecular and charge-transfer effects at oxide/molecule interfaces. While the latter leads rather to a fine tuning of key AFM properties, the covalent interface promotes the collapse of the standard ferromagnetic structure and the formation of a fundamentally new ferromagnetic phase, the Correlated Ferromagnetic Glass (CFMG). The new phase exhibits a spectrum of exotic magnetic properties, among which the Colossal enhancement of the Magnetic Anisotropy, the violation of the Raileigh law and other, offering an unprecedented route for the advanced engineering of ferromagnetic elements in spintronics and other.

Selected Publications

Benini, Mattia, et al. "Collapse of the standard ferromagnetic domain structure in hybrid Co/Molecule bilayers." Nature Communications 16.1 (2025): 5807

Cinchetti, Mirko, V. Alek Dediu, and Luis E. Hueso. "Activating the molecular spinterface." Nature materials 16.5 (2017): 507-515.

Dediu, V., et al. "Spin routes in organic semiconductors." Nature materials 8.9 (2009): 707-716.