Ultrafast Photoswitching in a Copper-Nitroxide-Based Molecular Magnet

摘要

Molecular compounds with photoswitchable magnetic properties have been intensively investigated over the last decades due to their prospective applications in nanoelectron-ics, sensing and magnetic data storage. The family of copper-nitroxide-based molecular magnets represents a new promising type of photoswitchable compounds. We report the first study of these appealing systems using femtosecond optical spectroscopy. We unveil the mechanism of ultrafast (<50 fs) spin state photoswitching and establish its principal differences compared to other photoswitchable magnets. On this basis, we propose potential advantages of copper-nitroxide-based molecular magnets for the future design of ultrafast magnetic materials.