| Summary: | Organic semiconductors are a class of materials based on conjugated molecules which has been the subject of intensive research in the past two decades for applications in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), organic thin film transistors (OTFT), photovoltaic cells, sensors and optical amplifiers/lasers. These molecular materials have recently become of interest for spintronic applications, since long spin relaxation times and magnetoresistance have been experimentally measured in these systems. The properties of organic materials can be easily manipulated and combined in novel ways, while their molecular nature paves the way for devices that operate at a single molecule/single spin level and really approach the ultimate limit of the atomic scale. In order to exploit the full potential of organic spintronics, it is essential to increase the temperatures at which the spin effects can be observed. This thesis is concerned with the development of novel organic magnetic materials, which could be of interest for spintronic devices operating above cryogenic temperatures. The work focuses on organic thin films and other nanostructures containing cobalt phthalocyanine and its derivatives. It is shown that some forms of these compounds, in particular alpha-CoPc, exhibit antiferromagnetic spin correlations above the boiling point of liquid nitrogen (77 K), suggesting that phthalocyanine materials may be suitable for high temperature organic spintronic applications.
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