Cationic Effect on Pressure Driven Spin-State Transition and Cooperativity in Hybrid Perovskites

Hybrid or metal–organic framework (MOF) perovskites of general composition, ABX3, are known to show interesting properties that can lead to a variety of technological applications. Our first-principles study shows they are also potential candidates for exhibiting cooperative spin-state transitions upon application of external stimuli. We demonstrate this by considering two specific Fe-based MOF perovskites, namely dimethylammonium iron formate, [CH3NH2CH3][Fe(HCOO)3], and hydroxylammonium iron formate, [NH3OH][Fe(HCOO)3]. Both the compounds are found to undergo high-spin (S = 2) to low-spin (S = 0) transition at Fe(II) site upon application of moderate strength of hydrostatic pressure, along with large hysteresis. This spin-state transition is signaled by the changes in electronic, magnetic, and optical properties. We find both the transition pressure and the width of the hysteresis to be strongly dependent on the choice of A-site cation, dimethylammonium or hydroxylammonium, implying that tuning of spin-switching properties is achievable by chemical variation of the amine cation in the structure. Our findings open up novel functionalities in this family of materials of recent interest, which can have important usage in sensors and memory devices.