Collective Magnetism in 2D metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)

Magnetic order in metal-organic low-dimensional (low-D) systems is interesting on its own right (cf. Mermin-Wagner theorem) as well as for molecular electronics and spintronics.
We can synthesize 2D MOFs based on TCNE (tetracyanoethylene, C6N4) by co-deposition of the transition metal (TM) and ligand on single crystal surfaces.
Very recently (February 2023), we have demonstrated ferromagnetism in the 2D MOF Ni-TCNE on Au(111) at 3 to 8 K at the X-Treme beamline of the Swiss Light Source.
In the proposed experiments, we plan to fully exploit our proof-of-concept results and to extend our investigations to other TM-TCNE layers on Au(111) and to investigate Ni-TCNE on Ag(111) to assess the impact of the substrate. We propose to study V-TCNE/Au(111) motivated by the fact that its 3D analogue is a room temperature ferromagnet. Also, we intend to further study Co-TCNE/Au(111) where our preliminary results strongly indicate strong antiferromagnetism.