CAREER: Tunable hybrid organic-inorganic magnetic nanostructures

Non- technical Abstract: Rapid growth of interest in artificial intelligence, data-intensive computing, and nanoelectronics is driving unprecedented energy and materials demands, motivating the need for new approaches to designing efficient and tunable materials. Next generation devices have the potential to reduce energy consumption and address national priorities for applications in artificial intelligence, neural networks, and sensing devices, but are currently held back by a lack of understanding regarding complex material architectures. This project explores a new class of hybrid magnetic materials that combine magnets with organic molecules to enable control of material properties. Results of this project will reveal new ways magnetic materials behave and extend these findings for bespoke material design and emerging technologies. By integrating cutting-edge research with interactive educational opportunities, the project will train undergraduate and graduate students in nanofabrication, magnetic characterization, and advanced imaging techniques, result in new course modules in magnetism and nanotechnology, and engaging rural Maine high-school students through hands-on physics demonstrations. In addition, new course modules in magnetism and nanotechnology will be developed and students will gain exposure to large-scale facilities experience through partnerships with National Laboratories. Together, these efforts will broaden participation in STEM, strengthen Maine’s research workforce, and prepare students for careers in materials science and condensed matter physics. Technical Abstract: A central challenge in modern magnetic materials is achieving reversible, in-situ tunability of collective behavior without reverting to additional synthesis or fabrication steps that can damage/alter original functionalities. This project addresses this problem by investigating hybrid organic–inorganic heterostructures formed by adsorbing metalloporphyrin molecules onto artificial spin ice arrays, two-dimensional arrays of strongly interacting single-domain magnetic nanoislands. The overarching goal is to establish molecular adsorption as a controllable “tuning knob” for individual island magnetic anisotropy and macroscopic inter-island interactions, enabling access to new equilibrium and non-equilibrium phases. The PI and his team’s goals are to investigate these hybrid heterostructures through three interconnected thrusts: (1) the characterization of interfacial spinterface coupling and adsorption kinetics using magnetometry, microscopy, and synchrotron-based techniques; (2) the investigation of the role of molecule-induced emergent behavior and tunable phase transitions in artificial spin ice arrays; and (3) the development of a new magnetic imaging techniques based on Fluorescence Photoactivation Localization Microscopy (FPALM) for real-time, sub-20-nm magnetic field imaging using fluorescent metalloporphyrins. This project is poised to advance fundamental understanding of interfacial magnetism, collective phenomena, and kinetic pathways in strongly coupled magnetic systems while enabling reconfigurable, bespoke magnetic materials This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.