Emergent Physics in Metal−Organic Frameworks

Abstract

Many-body interactions in condensed matter could lead to emergent phenomena spanning superconductivity, ferromagnetism, exciton condensation, etc. The emergence of these phenomena often requires highly ordered spatial arrangements of the interacting species to enforce specific space symmetries and interacting strengths. Metal−organic frameworks (MOFs), crystalline materials formed by self-assembly of metal ions and organic ligands, allow for precise design of their crystal structures and sophisticated tuning of Coulombic interaction or magnetic coupling among lattice sites. Such atomic-level designability combined with high crystallinity and versatile types of lattices (e.g., kagome and honeycomb lattices) render MOFs as a great platform to investigate emergent physics. In this Emerging Topic, we summarize recent studies evidencing emergent phenomena in MOFs including strong correlations, superconductivity, charge density wave, long-range magnetic order, and quantum spin liquid. We highlight the great potential of MOFs as quantum materials and discuss challenges including growth of high-quality single crystals and in-depth physical characterizations to reveal insights into the nature of physical properties of MOFs. Key Scientists: