M.-A. Arrio

Understanding the Photomagnetic Behavior in Copper Octacyanomolybdates

The mechanism of photomagnetism in copper octacyanomolybdate molecules is currently under debate. Contrary to the general belief that the photomagnetic transition occurs only due to a photoinduced electron transfer from the molybdenum to the copper atom, recent X-ray magnetic dichroic (XMCD) data clearly indicate that this phenomenon is associated at low temperature to a local low-spin-high-spin transition on the molybdenum atom. In this article we provide theoretical justification for these experimental facts. We show the first simulation of X-ray absorption (XAS) and magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) spectra at the L(2,3) edges of molybdenum from the joint perspective of density functional theory (DFT) calculations and ligand field multiplet (LFM) theory. The description of electronic interactions seems mandatory for reproducing the photomagnetic state.

Structure, magnetic ordering, and spin filtering efficiency of NiFe2O4(111) ultrathin films

NiFe2O4(111) ultrathin films (3–5u2009nm) have been grown by oxygen-assisted molecular beam epitaxy and integrated as effective spin-filter barriers. Structural and magnetic characterizations have been performed in order to investigate the presence of defects that could limit the spin filtering efficiency. These analyses have revealed the full strain relaxation of the layers with a cationic order in agreement with the inverse spinel structure but also the presence of antiphase boundaries. A spin-polarization up to +25% has been directly measured by the Meservey-Tedrow technique in Pt(111)/NiFe2O4(111)/γ-Al2O3(111)/Al tunnel junctions. The unexpected positive sign and relatively small value of the spin-polarization are discussed, in comparison with predictions and previous indirect tunnelling magnetoresistance measurements.

A chemical model of intermediate states implied in the switching properties of CoFe Prussian blue analogues: how a cell parameter lengthening can cause a crystal field parameter increase

A series of CoFe Prussian blue analogues of chemical formula Rb2Co4−xZnx[Fe(CN)6]3.3·11H2O (x = 0, 1, 1.95 and 2.7) has been synthesized along which the MII/CoIII ions ratio at the Co site has been tuned. The long range order and the electronic structure of the Co ions have been investigated by combined powder X-ray diffraction and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) measurements. The cell parameter of the face-centered cubic structure lengthens as the MII/CoIII ions ratio increases without phase demixing. The study of the electronic structure of the Co ions by XAS shows that the coordination polyhedra of the CoII(HS) ions play an important role in the flexibility of the cubic structure. The variation of the cell parameter in the series of compounds is accompanied by the variation of the CoII–NC bond angle which allows the expansion or contraction of the cubic structure accompanying the electronic switch without phase demixing. Due to this structural re-arrangement, a lengthening of the cell parameter unusually produces an increase of the Co ion crystal field. Such a re-arrangement occurs in the course of the photo-induced electron transfer.