DigitalLife

Using x-ray analysis methods, the group learned that iron-containing molecules can display a magnetic "memory" when tethered to a gold surface. This type of finding is a necessary precursor to the ability to store data, bit by bit, on individual molecules rather than capacitors or transistors, which are much larger.
"Our work has opened a door to the study of individually magnetized molecules 'wired' to conducting surfaces, which will now allow scientists to investigate the elementary interactions between electron transport and magnetism at the molecular scale," said the paper's corresponding researcher, Roberta Sessoli of the University of Florence, to PhysOrg.com.
Scientists have successfully organized molecules on conducting surfaces, but prior to this work had been unable to determine whether the molecules could retain a specific magnetic property: its ability to "remember" its magnetization history on the molecular level when demagnetized; this is known as magnetic hysteresis. Not only do small molecule clusters tend to be chemically unstable on surfaces, but scientists also lacked the tools to study them.

As they report in their paper, Sessoli and her colleagues proved that synchrotron radiation, the light emitted when charged particles are accelerated to nearly the speed of light around a large conducting ring, is the ideal tool for investigating these materials. Synchrotrons can produce all types of light, from radio waves to gamma-rays.Using a "self-assembly" method starting with molecules in solution, they deposited a single layer of iron (Fe) molecules—specifically, Fe₄, a propeller-shaped molecule—onto a surface of gold.