Final Report Summary - MAGMANET (Molecular approach to nanomagnets and multifunctional materials)
MAGMANET was an interdisciplinary Network of Excellence (NoE) whose main area of focus was the magnetic properties of molecule-based systems. This emerging research field required that Europe should integrate the necessary critical mass of resources and facilities to retain its world leadership.
The project addressed the following main objectives:
- tackle the fragmentation of European research into molecular magnetism and increase its cost effectiveness;
- provide lasting integration of Research and technological development (RTD) activities in this field by the establishing the European Institute of Molecular Magnetism (EIMM);
- deliver world class resources by developing a virtual laboratory of excellence and selected instrumentation platforms;
- strengthen the leading role of European research by expanding interdisciplinary cooperation;
- raise public awareness and disseminate knowledge;
- stimulate industrial innovation and technology transfer
The scientific activities of MAGMANET mainly concerned the design, synthesis and investigation of molecule properties with the aim of creating new types of magnets, namely switchable magnetic materials, conducting magnets, molecular nanomagnets, as well as molecular materials. One of the most significant results concerned data storage systems whose structure and properties could be switched by an external stimulus. Specifically, an electric field induced transition was observed in a system whose magnetisation depended on the history of the sample, thus discovering a new possibility for storing information. Another relevant major result concerned the organisation of molecules on suitable surfaces to be able to address them in a read-write device. Specifically, the project achieved in designing a tetranuclear iron cluster with side chains which anchored active molecules on a gold surface. The hardware was ready for use and paved the way for a new generation of computers. Finally, by use of electrical manipulation of the molecular redox potential of a polyoxometallate cluster containing rare earth ions, two qubit gates and qubit readout could be implemented for quantum computing.
The project addressed the following main objectives:
- tackle the fragmentation of European research into molecular magnetism and increase its cost effectiveness;
- provide lasting integration of Research and technological development (RTD) activities in this field by the establishing the European Institute of Molecular Magnetism (EIMM);
- deliver world class resources by developing a virtual laboratory of excellence and selected instrumentation platforms;
- strengthen the leading role of European research by expanding interdisciplinary cooperation;
- raise public awareness and disseminate knowledge;
- stimulate industrial innovation and technology transfer
The scientific activities of MAGMANET mainly concerned the design, synthesis and investigation of molecule properties with the aim of creating new types of magnets, namely switchable magnetic materials, conducting magnets, molecular nanomagnets, as well as molecular materials. One of the most significant results concerned data storage systems whose structure and properties could be switched by an external stimulus. Specifically, an electric field induced transition was observed in a system whose magnetisation depended on the history of the sample, thus discovering a new possibility for storing information. Another relevant major result concerned the organisation of molecules on suitable surfaces to be able to address them in a read-write device. Specifically, the project achieved in designing a tetranuclear iron cluster with side chains which anchored active molecules on a gold surface. The hardware was ready for use and paved the way for a new generation of computers. Finally, by use of electrical manipulation of the molecular redox potential of a polyoxometallate cluster containing rare earth ions, two qubit gates and qubit readout could be implemented for quantum computing.