Encoding complexity within supramolecular analogues of frustrated magnets.
The solid phases of gold(I) and/or silver(I) cyanides are supramolecular assemblies of inorganic polymer chains in which the key structural degrees of freedom-namely, the relative vertical shifts of neighbouring chains-are mathematically equivalent to the phase angles of rotating planar ('XY') spins. Here, we show how the supramolecular interactions between chains can be tuned to mimic different magnetic interactions. In this way, the structures of gold(I) and/or silver(I) cyanides reflect the phase behaviour of triangular XY magnets. Complex magnetic states predicted for this family of magnets-including collective spin-vortices of relevance to data storage applications-are realized in the structural chemistry of these cyanide polymers. Our results demonstrate how chemically simple inorganic materials can behave as structural analogues of otherwise inaccessible 'toy' spin models and also how the theoretical understanding of those models allows control over collective ('emergent') phenomena in supramolecular systems.
Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QR, UK.|European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 71 avenue des Martyrs, 38043 Grenoble, France.
Andrew B
0000-0003-4951-4937
AB
Cairns
Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QR, UK.|Department of Chemistry, University of Cambridge, Lensfield Road, Cambridge CB2 1EW, UK.
Matthew J
0000-0002-0408-7647
MJ
Cliffe
Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QR, UK.|ISIS Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Oxford, Didcot, OX11 0QX, UK.|School of Physics, Georgia Institute of Technology, 837 State Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30332, USA.
Joseph A M
JA
Paddison
Diamond Light Source, Chilton, OX11 0DE, UK.
Dominik
D
Daisenberger
ISIS Facility, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Oxford, Didcot, OX11 0QX, UK.|Diamond Light Source, Chilton, OX11 0DE, UK.
Matthew G
MG
Tucker
PSL Research University, Chimie ParisTech - CNRS, Institut de Recherche de Chimie Paris, 75005 Paris, France.
François-Xavier
0000-0001-5318-3910
FX
Coudert
Department of Chemistry, University of Oxford, Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QR, UK.
Andrew L
AL
Goodwin