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A research team with participation of the Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC) has developed a new material composed of iron atoms and organic molecules. Such materials, called hybrids, could be used in the computer industry for the manufacture of hard drives, RAM and sensors computer faster and more efficient. The research is published in Nature Materials.

"The growing need for electronic devices and magnetic tail has driven the development of new artificial materials whose properties can be measured to sub-nanometer scale," explains Peter Gambardella of CIN2, the Research Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology ( joint center of the CSIC and the Catalan Institute of Nanotechnology in Barcelona). In the last twenty years have been great advances in the study of the behavior of layers of magnetic metal nano-scale for the development of magnetic sensors and memories.

"More recently, interest has shifted to hybrid materials" - the investigator continued. "The idea is that by combining some of the large number of existing molecules with the magnetic properties of metals, will reveal new methods to control electromagnetic behavior of very small objects, "he concludes Gambardella. However, researchers working in this field are faced with two problems: how to have ordered millions of small molecules on a substrate (base) and adequate control how the contact with a metal layer alters the properties of these molecules.

In this case, researchers have found that, by providing iron atoms and terephthalic acid on a copper base, they organize themselves giving rise to a network in which the iron atoms are arranged every 15 nanometers. "This type of metal-organic structures flat layers are not formed spontaneously in nature," says Gambardella. This demonstrates that the magnetism of the iron atoms can be controlled and directed according to the molecules that combine independently (or almost) of the substrate on which to settle.

Although the work has no direct application, is an advance base for the understanding and use of magnetism in hybrid materials that can be applied in the development of software components.