Collective behaviours in crystals of switchable molecules
Speaker: Ben Powell
Affiliation: University of Queensland
Abstract
Switches are the bedrock of modern digital technology. So single molecules that can be switched between two quantum states have enormous promise. In this talk I will introduce spin crossover materials, which can be switched between two different spin states. When they switch their size, colour, and magnetic properties change opening potential applications from actuators to aerospace. I will describe the complex collective behaviours that emerge due to elastic interactions between such molecules and our efforts to understand these behaviours. I will discuss approaches to increase the range of temperatures where reversible switching is possible. Finally, I will share predictions of a phase of matter that hosts emergent gauge fields and fractionalised excitations, and might emerge in spin crossover materials.
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