Room-Temperature Magnetoelectric Coupling In Electronic Ferroelectric Film Based On [(N-C3h7)(4)N][(Fefeii)-Fe-Iii(Dto)(3)] (Dto = C2o2s2)

Great importance has been attached to magnetoelectric coupling in multiferroic thin films owing to their extremely practical use in a new generation of devices. Here, a film of [(n-C3H7)(4)N][(FeFeII)-Fe-III(dto)(3)] (1; dto = C2O2S2) was fabricated using a simple stamping process. As was revealed by our experimental results, in-plane ferroelectricity over a wide temperature range from 50 to 300 K was induced by electron hopping between Fe-II and Fe-III sites. This mechanism was further confirmed by the ferroelectric observation of the compound [(n-C3H7)(4)N][(FeZnII)-Zn-III(dto)(3)] (2; dto = C2O2S2), in which Fe-II ions were replaced by nonmagnetic metal Zn-II ions, resulting in no obvious ferroelectric polarization. However, both ferroelectricity and magnetism are related to the magnetic Fe ions, implying a strong magnetoelectric coupling in 1. Through piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM), the observation of magnetoelectric coupling was achieved by manipulating ferroelectric domains under an in-plane magnetic field. The present work not only provides new insight into the design of molecular-based electronic ferroelectric/magnetoelectric materials but also paves the way for practical applications in a new generation of electronic devices.