Interplay between Epitaxial Growth and Spin-Crossover Properties of Molecular Ultrathin Films on Metallic Surface
] (Pz = pyrazolyl) ultrathin films adsorbed on Cu(110) using grazing incidence X-ray diffraction measurements, along with their spin-crossover properties measured by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. For submonolayer coverage, the molecules self-assemble into two equivalent domains that are in a perfect epitaxial relationship with the Cu(110) substrate at room temperature. In parallel, the molecules are fully locked in a high spin (HS) state at low temperature. Density functional theory calculations show that there is a complex interplay between the epitaxial strain effect and the binding to the substrate that governs the orientation growth and the spin-crossover properties of the molecular films. For thicker thicknesses, a layer-by-layer growth of the (100) planes of the molecular bulk crystal with the release of the epitaxial constraint is observed, while the spin-crossover properties of the films are partially recovered with the opening of a hysteresis. The results obtained are very different from those observed on thin films adsorbed on Cu(111), indicating that not only the nature of the substrate but also its symmetry influences the spin-crossover properties of molecules.
Authors
- Y. Garreau (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7594-0262)
- Ritam Chakraborty
- Amandine Bellec (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7410-9736)
- M Arrio
- Lalminthang Kipgen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8401-4930)
- Talal Mallah (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9311-3463)
- Alessandro Coati (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7732-5688)
- Shobhana Narasimhan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1793-0576)
- Vincent Repain (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6809-1197)
- Marie‐Laure Boillot (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6710-4523)
- Edwige Otero (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3546-3908)
- Massine Kelaï (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3627-6987)
- Tanuja Shridhar Joshi
Institutions
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR)
- Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (IN)
- Université Paris Cité (FR)
- Université Paris-Saclay (FR)
- Synchrotron soleil (FR)
- Sorbonne Université (FR)
- Laboratoire Matériaux et Phénomènes Quantiques (FR)
- Institut de Chimie Moléculaire et des Matériaux d'Orsay (FR)
- Structure et Instabilité des Génomes (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters
- Published
- 2026-04-22
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpclett.6c00550
- Primary Topic
- Magnetism in coordination complexes
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Agence Nationale de la Recherche
- Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique