Recently, the research group of Pro. Zhongjun Li of the Low-Dimensional Semiconductor Material Design and Device Simulation Laboratory of our institute cooperated with Researcher Wei Hu of the team of Academician Jinlong Yang of the University of Science and Technology of China, using cyclopentadienyl (Cp) as the main host of p orbital, and designed a type of 2D magnetic (Cr3As2)2Cp3 clusterphene with high Curie temperature, strong magnetic anisotropy and giant magneto-band structure effect based on the concept of cluster self-assembly. The related results were published in “Advanced Functional Materials” on 20/10/2024 with the title “Molecule-Induced Huge d-p Overlap Enhances Superexchange Interaction for Room-Temperature In-Plane Magnetism and Giant Magneto Band-Structure Effect in Ferromagnetic Clusterphene”.

The discovery of 2D van der Waals XY ferromagnets is a vital task to access excellent topological spin textures, yet remains a longstanding challenge due to low critical temperatures (TC) and weak in-plane magnetic anisotropy. Here, a novel 2D ferromagnetic clusterphene, (Cr₃As₂)₂Cp₃ (Cp = cyclopentadienyl), by using Cr₃As₂Cp₃ cluster self-assembly with Cp as linker is proposed. Via first-principles calculations, it is demonstrated that an enhanced ferromagnetic superexchange interaction between the d orbital is achieved through a salient overlap onto the molecular frontier orbitals of the Cp ligand, producing a room-temperature T_C. The (Cr₃As₂)₂Cp₃ clusterphene characterizes an ideal XY ferromagnet and a giant magneto band-structure (GMB) effect. Functional groups and element modifications are also introduced to effectively manipulate the magnetic anisotropy and the GMB effect. The results showcase that 2D magnetic cluster-assembled clusterphenes fuel a wide range of possibilities for exploring XY magnetism in reduced dimensions. 

Figure 1. The geometry structure, Curie temperature, band structure, and magnetic anisotropy energy of (Cr₃As₂)₂Cp₃ clusterphene. The spintronics device constructed based on (Cr₃As₂)₂Cp₃ clusterphene simulates tunneling anisotropic magnetoresistance and quantum anomalous Hall effect.

link：https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adfm.202414984

Xiaofeng Liu (Figures and text), Gao Weiqing (Reviewed)