In a step towards realizing ultrahigh-density storage devices based on individual molecules behaving as magnets, researchers in Japan have developed a candidate building block1—a supramolecular ferromagnet, which is a caged molecule with magnetic properties. The research team was led by Takuzo Aida at the RIKEN Advanced Science Institute, Wako, and Kentaro Tashiro at the National Institute for Materials Science, Tsukuba.
The researchers’ supramolecular magnet is based on a metallofullerene dubbed La@C82—a lanthanum ion trapped within an 82-carbon spherical cage. La@C82 has well-known paramagnetic properties: it becomes magnetized in the presence of an external magnetic field. However, like all paramagnets, La@C82 loses its magnetization once the external field is removed, rendering it useless for data storage.Riken Research
Putting a metal molecule into a buckey ball is a milestone on the way to nano chem factories.
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