Our project is to address the synthesis, characterization and basic understanding of a new family of active hybrid interfaces combining a 2D graphene (Gr) sensing layer in contact with an ultrathin film of switchable spin-crossover (SCO) sublimated molecules. Our main goal is to demonstrate bistable SCO/Gr hybrid devices, that can be addressed by multiple stimuli (light, electric field, strain, temperature) and operate at room temperature. The project is pluridisciplinary with close collaborations between inorganic chemists for the design and synthesis of new sublimable SCO molecules, surface physicists for the structural and magnetic characterization of SCO ultrathin films on Gr down to the molecular scale, and device physicists for the realization and operation of SCO/Gr based sensors (strain, light, temperature).
Concretely, the internship will be devoted to the sublimation of newly synthetized SCO molecules, in ultrahigh vacuum onto a metal, graphite or graphene surface. The spatial organization and local electrical conductance of the molecules will be studied by scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy [1]. The spin properties will be adressed mainly through the analysis of x-ray absorption spectroscopy experiments [2].
[1] Bairagi et al., Nature Communications 7, 12212 (2016)
[2] Zhang et al., Angewandte Chemie 59, 13341 (2020)
Contact : vincent.repain@u-paris.fr