Bistable Spin-Crossover Nanoparticles for Molecular Electronics

The field of spin-crossover complexes is rapidly evolving from the study of the spin transition phenomenon to its exploitation in molecular electronics. Such spin transition is gradual in a single-molecule, while in bulk it can be abrupt, showing sometimes thermal hysteresis and thus a memory effect. A convenient way to keep this bistability while reducing the size of the spin-crossover material is to process it as nanoparticles (NPs). Here, the most recent advances in the chemical design of these NPs and their integration into electronic devices, paying particular attention to optimizing the switching ratio are reviewed. Then, integrating spin-crossover NPs over 2D materials is focused to improve the endurance, performance, and detection of the spin state in these hybrid devices. Spin-crossover materials showing bistability are very attractive for fabricating molecular electronic devices. Departing from chemical design, this paper reports on how the miniaturization as nanoparticles and their integration into various architectures, in particular combining them with two-dimensional materials, provides a suitable approach to prepare robust and resilient devices for electrically sensing spin transitions.image