Azo anion radical complex of rhodium as a molecular memory switching device: isolation, characterization, and evaluation of current-voltage characteristics.

Two rare examples of azo anion diradical complexes of Rh(III) are reported. These complexes showed excellent memory switching properties with a large ON/OFF ratio and are suitable for RAM/ROM applications. Their electronic structures have been elucidated using a host of physical methods, including X-ray crystallography, variable-temperature magnetic susceptibility measurement, cyclic voltammetry, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, and density functional theory. The results indicate a predominant triplet state description of the systems with two ferromagnetically coupled radicals.