Date of Award

2015

Publisher

North Dakota State University

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Awarded

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Program

Materials and Nanotechnology

Department

Materials and Nanotechnology

College

Graduate and Interdisciplinary Studies

Faculty Advisor

Pokhodnya, Konstantin

Description

The chemical bond and its role as a mediator of magnetic exchange interaction remains an important aspect in the study of magnetic insulators and semiconductors. The M[TCNE] (M = transition metal, TCNE = tetracyanoethylene) class of organic-based magnets has attracted considerable interest since VII[TCNE]x (x ~ 2) exhibits one of the highest critical temperatures for its class – Tc ~ 400 K – in addition to highly spin-polarized conduction and valance bands (Eg ~ 0.5 eV), thus foreseeing potential spintronic application. The magneto-structural factors underlying this exceptional behavior remain elusive, however, due to the amorphous nature of the material. To address this, a novel synthetic route was utilized to produce new polycrystalline M[TCNE] solids (whose crystal structures have been resolved) with varying transition metal centers (Ni, Mn, Fe) and lattice dimensionality (2D-3D), exhibiting a wide range of Tc (40-170 K). Spectroscopic and magnetometric studies were performed and demonstrate that in 2D [MII(TCNE)(NCMe)2]X structures (M = Ni, Mn, Fe; X = diamagnetic anion), strong ligand-to-metal transfer of electron density from the organic TCNE radical plays a significant role in the formation of magnetic exchange pathways, while single-ion anisotropy strongly influences the critical temperature and below-Tc spin disorder for magnets in this material class. Additionally, using quantum-computational modeling, magnetic spin-density transfer trends, spin-polarized electronic structures, and electronic exchange coupling constants have been identified and interpreted in terms of 3d-orbital filling and dimensionality of magnetic interaction. These findings offer new perspectives on the stabilization of magnetic order in M[TCNE] solids.

Rights

NDSU policy 190.6.2

Rights Link

https://www.ndsu.edu/fileadmin/policy/190.pdf

Handle Identifier

https://hdl.handle.net/10365/27813

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