Spin crossover and high spin filtering behavior in Co-Pyridine and Co-Pyrimidine molecules

We present a theoretical study on a series of cobalt complexes, which are constructed with cobalt atoms and pyridine/pyrimidine rings, using density functional theory. We investigate the structural and electric transport properties of spin crossover (SCO) Co complex with two spin states, namely low-spin configuration [LS] and high-spin configuration [HS]. Energy analyses of the two spin states imply that the SCO Co-Pyridine₂ and Co-Pyrimidine₂ complexes may display a spin transition process accompanied by a geometric modification driven by external stimuli. A nearly perfect spin filtering effect is observed in the Co-Pyrimidine₂ complex with [HS] state. In addition, we also discover the contact-dependent transmission properties of Co-Pyridine₂. These findings indicate that SCO Co complexes are promising materials for molecular spintronic devices. (paper)