11,11,12,12-tetracyanonaphtho-2,6-quinodimethane in Contact with Ferromagnetic Electrodes for Organic Spintronics

TL;DR

This study investigates how TNAP molecules interact with ferromagnetic electrodes, revealing hybridization and induced magnetization effects that could enhance organic spintronic devices.

Contribution

It provides the first element-specific analysis of TNAP's electronic and magnetic interactions with ferromagnetic electrodes, demonstrating its potential for spinterface engineering.

Findings

Strong hybridization between TNAP and Fe observed

Induced magnetization of N atoms in TNAP detected

TNAP reduces Fe spin moment by 12% upon adsorption

Abstract

Spinterface engineering has shown quite important roles in organic spintronics as it can improve spin injection or extraction. In this study, 11,11,12,12-tetracyanonaptho-2,6-quinodimethane (TNAP) is introduced as an interfacial layer for a prototype interface of Fe/TNAP. We report an element-specific investigation of the electronic and magnetic structures of Fe/TNAP system by use of near edge X-Ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD). Strong hybridization between TNAP and Fe and induced magnetization of N atoms in TNAP molecule are observed. XMCD sum rule analysis demonstrates that the adsorption of TNAP reduces the spin moment of Fe by 12%. In addition, induced magnetization in N K-edge of TNAP has also been found with other commonly used ferromagnets in organic spintronics, such as La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 and permalloy, which makes TNAP a very promising molecule for spinterface engineering in organic spintronics.