Theory of Molecular Electronics

The advent of organic light emitting diodes and the first laboratory implementations of molecular level magnetoresistive switches has stimulated a world wide effort in organic spintronics. The long term outcome will be information processing and storage within an organic materials system - ie: cheap, easily processed, made sustainably from earth abundant materials. As LIGA and CMOS are replaced by printable, flexible thin films this also means that electronic devices and detectors become wearable.
Room temperature stable organic magnetic materials are therefore highly desirable. Harrison, Heutz and their collaborators contributed a significant advance in 2015 publishing the CoPc system that is stable at 86K, subsequent theory suggests a system based on RhPc stable at room temperature that has yet to be sythesised

In this project a machine learning / big data approach will be used to discover new classes of molecules and specific combination that have RT and above magnetic coupling, support charge and spin transport and can self-assemble at surfaces. Collaborators in chemistry (Heany) will seek to synthesise the new molecules and in materials (Heutz) will produce and test the magnetoelectronics in thin films.