Single-Molecule Magnetism and Related Phenomena

Dear Colleagues,

The field of molecular magnetism has been significantly expanded over the last two decades or so, to include nowadays molecular compounds with fascinating structures and magnetic properties, such as single-molecule magnets, single-chain magnets, spin-crossover systems, and multifunctional magnetic materials. Single-molecule magnets (SMMs) are paramagnetic molecular species consisting of anisotropic metal ions, such as transition metal ions, lanthanides and actinides. As a result of the non-zero ground state spin value, S, and the negative easy-axis-type magnetoanisotropy, SMMs have experimentally shown to exhibit both hysteresis in magnetization versus magnetic field sweeps, and frequency-dependent out-of-phase ac magnetic susceptibility signals. SMMs thus represent a molecular or ‘bottom-up’ approach to nanoscale magnetism, and they are consequently also called molecular nanomagnets. In addition, they clearly straddle the classical/quantum interface, displaying not just the classical property of a magnet, named magnetization hysteresis, but also the quantum property of quantum tunneling of magnetization (QTM) through the anisotropy barrier to magnetization relaxation.

The synthesis, characterization, and properties of SMMs have flourished as a lively crossroads for chemistry, physics, and materials science. SMMs offer the possibility of creating tunable, molecular-scale devices that store or manipulate information using the orientation of their molecular spin, one of the most appealing challenges in the fields of molecular electronics and quantum computation. Although the majority of research in this area has been devoted to a large number of different molecular systems, recent advances have shown that SMMs can be successfully deposited on various surfaces with retention of their magnetic dynamics and potentially exploited as spintronic devices. All these represent the proof-of-feasibility to keep synthesizing and studying new SMMs, with the most significant challenges for the future being the preparation of SMMs that operate at higher temperatures, exhibit large anisotropic barriers for the magnetization reversal, and/or are better tailored to applications within devices.

The present Special Issue of Molecules entitled “Single-Molecule Magnetism and Related Phenomena” aims to attract all scientists working in the synthesis and magnetic characterization of single-molecule magnets without restrictions to the nature of the compounds, nuclearity of the system, and metal ion(s) present. All papers submitted are welcome as we hope this effort to bring the SMM community together will receive the appreciation and support it deserves.

Dr. Theocharis C. Stamatatos
Guest Editor

Dr. Christos Lampropoulos
Co-Guest Editor

Submission

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed Open Access monthly journal published by MDPI.

• magnetic anisotropy
• synthesis
• paramagnetic metal ions
• mono-, oligo-, and polynuclear compounds
• structures
• organic ligands and ligand field
• dc and ac magnetic susceptibility studies