Carbon-based nanostructures as a versatile platform for tunable π-magnetism

Emergence of pi-magnetism in open-shell nanographenes has been theoretically predicted decades ago but their experimental characterization was elusive due to the strong chemical reactivity that makes their synthesis and stabilization difficult. In recent years, on-surface synthesis under vacuum conditions has provided unprecedented opportunities for atomically precise engineering of nanographenes, which in combination with scanning probe techniques have led to a substantial progress in our capabilities to realize localized electron spin states and to control electron spin interactions at the atomic scale. Here we review the essential concepts and the remarkable advances in the last few years, and outline the versatility of carbon-based pi-magnetic materials as an interesting platform for applications in spintronics and quantum technologies.

Automated summary

The emergence of pi-magnetism in open-shell nanographenes was theoretically predicted a long time ago, but their experimental characterization has been challenging due to their strong chemical reactivity. In recent years, on-surface synthesis under vacuum conditions has provided new opportunities for precise engineering of nanographenes, leading to significant progress in controlling electron spin states and interactions at the atomic scale using scanning probe techniques.