Information
storage capabilities have reached dizzying height in the past decade: the bit
size and computing is inching towards molecular level. The electron spin degree
of freedom in molecules, the well-defined smallest electronic units with atomic
precision, have limitless possibilities for synthesis and with precisely designed
properties in innumerous ways. A major contributor towards this is spin
polarized tunneling (SPT), discovered by Robert Meservey and Paul Tedrow, a powerful method to investigate spin
polarization of tunneling electrons from ferromagnetic metals, onset of
ferromagnetism etc. It subsequently led to the discovery of tunnel
magnetoresistance in magnetic tunnel junctions. Spin transport in organic
semiconductors (OS) has the potential in realizing the molecular level
spintronics in a straightforward way. The charge and spin transport at OS and
ferromagnetic metal interface, although complex, has the needed capabilities
and potential as shown in our recent work. Understanding this complex exchange
interaction and controlling it can lead us towards future molecular engineering
of spin state as a quantum of information that can aim to develop
multifunctional molecular spintronics for memory, sensing, and logic
applications.
In the talk we shall give an overview of our work through the decades in the field.