Nature: Molecule Changes Magnetism and Conductance

Using a scanning tunneling microscope tip, defined electricity pulses were applied to the molecule, which switches between different magnetic states. (photo: CFN/KIT)

By Electricity, Researchers Switch the Magnetic State and Electric Resistance of a Single Molecule on and off/Blueprint for Novel, Compact Storage Media

One bit of digital information stored on a hard disk currently consists of about 3 million magnetic atoms. Researchers from Karlsruhe, Strasbourg, and Japan have now developed a magnetic memory with one bit per molecule. By an electric pulse, the metal-organic molecule can be switched reliably between a conductive, magnetic state and a low-conductive, non-magnetic state. This novel correlation for molecules is now reported in the Nature Communications journal: doi: 10.1038/ncomms1940 (2012).