Graphene nanoribbons will become conductors of molecular electronics chains
A group of Spanish researchers led by researchers from the CIC (nanoGUNE Cooperative Research Center) has made significant progress in the field of so-called molecular electronics, electronics, where the role of electronic components is played by individual molecules of various chemical compounds. Spanish scientists have developed a method for connecting magnetic porphyrin molecules with graphene nanoribbons, which can act as nanowires that link individual components into a common electronic circuit.
Porphyrin is a molecule similar in structure to the hemoglobin molecule, which makes possible the process of photosynthesis and the process of oxygen transfer by the blood stream. However, researchers have been experimenting with magnetic porphyrins for some time now and trying to use the properties of these molecules to create spintronic devices.
Spintronics is a kind of analogue of electronics, but instead of the movement of electric charges in spintronics, the rotation of electrons, spin, is used to transmit, store and process information. It is this rotation that is responsible for the manifestation of magnetism, when the spins of all electrons of a material are aligned in the same direction, the material is magnetized and becomes a permanent magnet. And the direction of the magnetic field generated by the electron spins can be interpreted as an analogue of logical 0 or 1.
The iron atom located in the very center of the molecule is responsible for the magnetic properties of porphyrin molecules. And scientists already know several ways to control the magnetization of this atom and use that magnetization to control the electric current flowing through the molecule.
One of the ways to control the iron atom of the porphyrin molecule is the electrical method, which requires the molecule to contact the conductors through which the electric current will flow. As these conductors, the Spanish researchers used graphene nanoribbons, manufactured with atomic precision. The extreme atoms of these nanoribbons, brought to a specific site of the molecule, established a covalent bond with the atoms of the molecule.
“This allows us to pass an electric current through the molecule in the direction we need,” says Professor Nacho Pascual. “Moreover, the molecule fully retains its magnetic properties even after additional covalent bonds are created. With our work, we entered a completely new field, which is a symbiosis of molecular electronics and spintronics. And we have given this area the informal name “molecular spintronics”.
In the future, Spanish researchers plan to develop more reliable technologies for controlling magnetic molecules using electric currents supplied through graphene ribbons. “After that, it will already be possible to think about creating real molecular spintronic devices and their practical use,” says Professor Pascual.
Source: www.dailytechinfo.org