Photoinduced magnetization in molecular compounds

In this review, recent studies on photoinduced magnetization in molecular compounds are introduced. The magnetic materials presented here range from Prussian blue analogues to purely organic radicals. Various photomagnetic phenomena observed in those materials are briefly described. These are, for example, photoinduced magnetization, photoinduced demagnetization, photoinduced spin cluster, photoinduced magnetic-pole inversion, photoinduced spin flipping, light-induced excited spin state trapping, photoinduced valence tautomerism, etc. It is thought that these can be used for future high-density photo-recording media and optical switches in molecular devices. (C) 2004 Japanese Photochemistry Association. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.