Temperature- and Light-Induced Spin Crossover Observed by X-ray Spectroscopy on Isolated Fe(II) Complexes on Gold.
Using X-ray absorption techniques, we show that temperature- and light-induced spin crossover properties are conserved for a submonolayer of the [Fe(H2B(pz)2)2(2,2'-bipy)] complex evaporated onto a Au(111) surface. For a significant fraction of the molecules, we see changes in the absorption at the L2,3 edges that are consistent with those observed in bulk and thick film references. Assignment of these changes to spin crossover is further supported by multiplet calculations to simulate the X-ray absorption spectra. As others have observed in experiments on monolayer coverages, we find that many molecules in our submonolayer system remain pinned in one of the two spin states. Our results clearly demonstrate that temperature- and light-induced spin crossover is possible for isolated molecules on surfaces but that interactions with the surface may play a key role in determining when this can occur.
Ben
B
Warner
Jenny C
JC
Oberg
Tobias G
TG
Gill
Fadi
F
El Hallak
Cyrus F
CF
Hirjibehedin
#Department of Materials and London Centre for Nanotechnology, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
Michele
M
Serri
#Department of Materials and London Centre for Nanotechnology, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
Sandrine
S
Heutz
¶Institut de Minéralogie et de Physique des Milieux Condensés, UMR7590, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France.
Marie-Anne
MA
Arrio
¶Institut de Minéralogie et de Physique des Milieux Condensés, UMR7590, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France.
Philippe
P
Sainctavit
Matteo
M
Mannini
∇Department of Applied Sciences and Technology, Guglielmo Marconi University, Rome, Italy.
Giordano
G
Poneti
Roberta
R
Sessoli
∥CNRS, Univ. Bordeaux, ICMCB, UPR 9048, F-33600 Pessac, France.
Patrick
P
Rosa
UHV evaporation; X-ray absorption; iron complexes; spin crossover; submonolayer