If switchable molecule-based magnetic networks are to be incorporated into complex architectures for applications ranging from spintronics to mechanical actuators, alterations in their behavior at surfaces or when coupled to other components must be understood. Earlier work showed that when spin-transition networks, such as the charge-transfer induced spin transition (CTIST) Prussian blue analogue, AjCok[Fe(CN)6]l.nH2O, or LIESST-active Hofmann-like phases are incorporated into thin-film or particle heterostructures, thermally- or optically-induced spin changes couple across the interface to change behavior of the second material. However, the response of the spin-transition network is also altered when included in a heterostructure. For example, volume changes associated with the AjCok[Fe(CN)6]l.nH2O CTIST are inhibited when included in a core-shell particle, changing the elastic response of the phase transition. As a result, the transition temperature, T1/2, of the thermally-induced transition and the hysteresis widths are altered, as is the thermal relaxation from the light-induced state. Most notably, the rate of the light-induced CTIST increases by two orders of magnitude when the same particle is in a core-shell structure with K0.8Ni4.0[Cr(CN)6]2.9.nH2O. Experimental studies using magnetometry and synchrotron X-ray diffraction are combined with Monte Carlo simulations based on elastic models to explain the new behavior.

Control of the speed of a light-induced spin transition through mesoscale core-shell architecture

2019 Spring National Meeting

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