Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Visualizing Uniaxial-strain Manipulation of Antiferromagnetic Domains in Fe1+YTe Using a Spin-polarized Scanning Tunneling Microscope
Published on: March 24, 2019
A chiral ferromagnetic molecular metal.
José R Galán-Mascarós1, Eugenio Coronado, Paul A Goddard
1Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ), Av. Paisos Catalans 16, 43007 Tarragona, Spain. jrgalan@iciq.es
Researchers created a novel molecular material exhibiting ferromagnetism, metallic conductivity, and chirality simultaneously. This breakthrough combines chiral organic radical cations with a bimetallic oxalate network, opening new avenues in materials science.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Solid-State Chemistry
- Organic Electronics
Background:
- Developing molecular materials with multiple coexisting properties is a significant challenge.
- Ferromagnetism, conductivity, and chirality are key properties for advanced electronic and spintronic applications.
Purpose of the Study:
- To synthesize and characterize a novel molecular material exhibiting ferromagnetism, metal-like conductivity, and chirality.
- To investigate the interplay between these properties in a single molecular system.
Main Methods:
- Employed an organic/inorganic synthetic approach.
- Assembled chiral organic radical cations with a layered bimetallic oxalate-based anionic network.
- Utilized Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations to probe electronic structure.
Main Results:
- Successfully prepared a molecular material with coexisting ferromagnetism, metal-like conductivity, and chirality.
- Demonstrated that chiral organic radical cations are responsible for electrical conductivity and optical activity.
- Confirmed the presence of a Fermi surface via Shubnikov-de Haas oscillations, despite apparent insulating behavior at low temperatures.
Conclusions:
- The synthesized material represents the first molecular system with simultaneous ferromagnetism, metal-like conductivity, and chirality.
- The findings highlight the potential of organic/inorganic hybrid materials for multifunctional applications.
- Further research can explore tuning these properties for specific technological uses.
Related Concept Videos
Ferromagnetism
Valence Bond Theory
Colors and Magnetism
When atoms or molecules absorb light at the proper frequency, their electrons are excited to higher-energy orbitals. For many main group atoms and molecules, the absorbed photons are in the ultraviolet range of the electromagnetic spectrum, which cannot be detected by the human eye. For coordination compounds, the energy difference between the d orbitals often allows photons in the visible range to be absorbed and emitted, which is seen as colors by the human eye.
Chirality
Chiral objects exhibit a sense of handedness when they interact with another chiral object. For example, our left foot can only fit in the left shoe and not in the right shoe. Achiral objects — objects that have...
Metal-Ligand Bonds
In these complexes, transition metals form coordinate covalent bonds, a kind of Lewis acid-base interaction in which both of the electrons in the bond are contributed by a donor (Lewis base) to an electron acceptor (Lewis acid). The Lewis acid in...
Molecules with Multiple Chiral Centers

