MATERIALS SCIENCE COLLOQUIUM

Refreshments will be served at 10:45 a.m.

ABSTRACT: Harnessing the spin degree of freedom in electronic transport has given rise to the field of Spintronics, which has transformed information storage technology, and where the vision is to merge magnetics with electronics and photonics for multifunctional devices. Organic molecules are attracting interest as another promising medium for spin transport, because of long spin relaxation times expected from the weak spin-orbit and hyperfine interactions, and because organic electronics is a burgeoning field, providing low-cost alternatives to electronic and photonic devices that are presently the domain of conventional inorganic semiconductors.

A recent crop of reports has claimed molecular spin transport in nominally spintronic structures containing organic molecules, and is taken as the basis of "the new field of organic spintronics". I will show that, through our studies of electrode/molecule energy level alignment and molecular charge transport behavior, those claims of molecular spin transport are inconsistent with fundamental physics and intrinsic material properties. I will also draw comparisons with the historical development of Spintronics in inorganics, and discuss the outlook on setting "organic spintronics" on a firmer footing.