Thin deposits and patterning of room-temperature-switchble one-dimensional spin-crossover compounds

We present a study on thin deposits and patterning of 1-D spin-crossover compounds FeII-(L)2H](ClO4)3 3MeOH [L = 40-(4000-pyridyl)-1,20:60100-bis- (pyrazolyl) pyridine] (1) that exhibit a reversible, thermally driven spin transition at room temperature. Micrometric rodlike crystals of 1 on silicon surfaces are achieved by drop casting and solvent annealing. We observed that the crystallinity of thin deposits and spin-transition properties critically depends on the deposition procedure. Furthermore, we proved processability and patterning using unconventional wet lithography that reduces the crystallite formation time by 1 order of magnitude. Thin deposits of 1 were characterized by atomic force microscopy, polarized optical microscopy and X-rays, and the switching properties were characterized by Raman spectroscopy.