title: On the magnetic alignment of metal ions in a DNA-mimic double helix.
abstract: We computed by spin-polarized DFT the structure and the electronic properties of an infinite periodic wire constituted of planar Cu-bridged hydroxypyridone chelator base pairs and of a similarly stacked finite dimer. The Cu centers undergo electronic hybridization with the bases. There is an unpaired spin per plane, and the majority-spins manifest ordering: The ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic phases are energetically degenerate. The total magnetization of the ferromagnetic wire depends linearly on the number of planes in the stack. The combination of interplane spin coupling and intraplane metal-hydroxypyridone coupling makes this system very appealing for electronic and magnetic device exploitation.
authors.affiliation: National Center on nanoStructures and bioSystems at Surfaces (S3) of INFM-CNR, c/o Dipartimento di Fisica, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Via Campi 213/A, 41100 Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: Hou Yu
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Arrigo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Calzolari
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Di Felice