Room temperature current modulation in large area electronic junctions of spin crossover thin films

Abstract

We report large-area (∼3 mm2), pinhole free crossbar junctions of thin films of the molecular complex [Fe(HB(tz)3)2] displaying spin transition around 336 K. The charge transport in the thinner junctions (10 and 30 nm) occurs by a tunneling mechanism, which is not affected substantially by the spin transition. The thicker junctions (100 and 200 nm) exhibit rectifying behavior and a reproducible drop of their electrical resistance by ca. 65–80% when switching the molecules from the high-spin to the low-spin state. This current modulation is ascribed to a bulk-limited charge transport mechanism via a thermally activated hopping process. The demonstrated possibility of resistance switching in ambient conditions provides appealing prospects for the implementation of molecular spin crossover materials in electronic and spintronic devices.