A semiconducting layered metal-organic framework magnet

The realization of ferromagnetism in semiconductors is an attractive avenue for the development of spintronic applications. Here, we report a semiconducting layered metal-organic framework (MOF), namely K3Fe2[(2,3,9,10,16,17,23,24-octahydroxy phthalocyaninato)Fe] (K3Fe2[PcFe-O8]) with spontaneous magnetization. This layered MOF features in-plane full pi-d conjugation and exhibits semiconducting behavior with a room temperature carrier mobility of 15±2cm2V-1s-1 as determined by time-resolved Terahertz spectroscopy. Magnetization experiments and 57Fe Mossbauer spectroscopy demonstrate the presence of long-range magnetic correlations in K3Fe2[PcFe-O8] arising from the magnetic coupling between iron centers via delocalized pi electrons. The sample exhibits superparamagnetic features due to a distribution of crystal size and possesses magnetic hysteresis up to 350K. Our work sets the stage for the development of spintronic materials exploiting magnetic MOF semiconductors.