The realization of ferromagnetism in semiconductors is an attractive avenue for the development of spintronic applications. Here, we report a semiconducting layered metal-organic framework (MOF), namely K3Fe2[(2,3,9,10,16,17,23,24-octahydroxy phthalocyaninato)Fe] (K3Fe2[PcFe-O8]) with spontaneous magnetization. This layered MOF features in-plane full π-d conjugation and exhibits semiconducting behavior with a room temperature carrier mobility of 15 ± 2 cm2 V−1 s−1 as determined by time-resolved Terahertz spectroscopy. Magnetization experiments and 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy demonstrate the presence of long-range magnetic correlations in K3Fe2[PcFe-O8] arising from the magnetic coupling between iron centers via delocalized π electrons. The sample exhibits superparamagnetic features due to a distribution of crystal size and possesses magnetic hysteresis up to 350 K. Our work sets the stage for the development of spintronic materials exploiting magnetic MOF semiconductors.

Chongqing Yang, Renhao Dong*, Xinliang Feng*, et al. A semiconducting layered metal-organic framework magnet. Nat. Commun., 2019

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-11267-w

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-019-11267-w