Eur. Phys. J. B (2015) 88: 233
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2015-60340-x

Regular Article

On the origin of multi-step spin transition behaviour in 1D nanoparticles

¹ GEMaC, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, CNRS-UVSQ (UMR 8635), 78035 Versailles Cedex, France
² Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science &MANSiD, Stefan cel Mare University, 720229 Suceava, Romania
³ LISV, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, 78140 Velizy, France
⁴ LATMOS, Université de Versailles-Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Sorbonne Universités, CNRS-UMR 8190, 78280 Guyancourt, France
⁵ Institute of Condensed Matter and Nanosciences, Molecules, Solids and Reactivity (IMCN/MOST), Université Catholique de Louvain, Place L. Pasteur 1, 1348 Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium

^a e-mail: jorge.linares@uvsq.fr

Received: 29 April 2015
Received in final form: 20 July 2015
Published online: 21 September 2015

Abstract

To investigate the spin state switching mechanism in spin crossover (SCO) nanoparticles, a special attention is given to three-step thermally induced SCO behavior in 1D chains. An additional term is included in the standard Ising-like Hamiltonian to account for the border interaction between SCO molecules and its local environment. It is shown that this additional interaction, together with the short range interaction, drives the multi-steps thermal hysteretic behavior in 1D SCO systems. The relation between a polymeric matrix and this particular multi-step SCO phenomenon is discussed accordingly. Finally, the environmental influence on the SCO system’s size is analyzed as well.