External stimuli modulate the magnetic relaxation of lanthanide single-molecule magnets

Abstract

Mutilfunctional molecular magnetic materials have promising potential for use as future molecular devices, such as for magneto-luminescence sensing, optical switching, information storage, etc. Lanthanide ions have been considered as excellent candidates to construct molecular switches as they are very sensitive to the subtle changes of structure including the change of molecular geometry, bond distance, even crystal packing, etc., while for transition metal ions, in most cases, only the change of electronic configuration can cause a switch of magnetic properties. This review aims to summarize the effects of stimuli-induced structural transformations on the magnetic relaxation involving light-, solvato-, proton- and redox-switching of Ln-SMM behaviour. Emphasis is placed on the role played by external stimuli in reversibly modulating the magnetic properties realized in the systems with single-crystal-to-single-crystal structural transformation.