Unravelling The Behaviour in a TCNQ Based Molecular Solid

Molecular solids present many advantages over their inorganic counterparts, however their more work is needed to bring our understanding up to that of other types of materials. One interesting problem is using organic based compounds to create functional materials, pairing the existence of magnetism and electrical behaviour. Within this talk, I will focus on triethylammonium 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TEA(TCNQ)₂), a quasi-1D system where an electron is shared between two TCNQ molecules creating a delocalised radical anion. Dielectric measurements have shown anomalies at two temperatures and these match with both a structural and magnetic phase transition. Our recent study has shown that the system enters a 3D Ising ground state and not simply undergoing a spin-transition as was previously thought. This is helping to further our knowledge of the system and highlight it's potential as a functional material.