Influence of the supporting substrate on the switching behavior of the spin -crossover complex [Fe(pypypyr)2]

We want to investigate the properties of the Fe(II)-centered spin-crossover (SCO) complex [Fe(pypypyr)2] deposited on different metallic and magnetic surfaces by the e-beam method. The complex investigated as bulk material is in the low-spin (LS) state up to 510 K, but the light-induced excited high-spin state at 8 K has a half time of several hours (13 hours). Here we want to explore how much the spin-crossover properties of the complex remain intact on metallic and magnetic surfaces. The spin-crossover properties of the Fe(II) complex will be investigated as a function of temperature and light exposure. For this, we intend to use x-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) and x-ray magnetic circular dichroism (XMCD) at the Fe L2,3 and Co L2,3 absorption edges at the BL29-BOREAS beamline. A similar behavior of the SCO complex on metallic and magnetic surfaces as found on the bulk samples would open a new gateway to engineering spin interfaces.