Conformational chirality in buckled molecular silicenes: a precursor for chiral magnets

Abstract

The chirality effect in bulk silicene has been studied under uniaxial tension, and Dirac Fermion chirality has also been observed in silicene on Ag (111). Despite these significant findings in bulk and surface-supported silicene, the existence and nature of chirality in molecular silicene, remain unknown. Herein, we report the “conformational chirality” in molecular silicene rings. This work also reports a computational study on silicene-based chiral magnetic systems that combines the structural flexibility of silicon with the spin functionality of organic radicals. Structural distortion introduces conformational chirality, making silicene an ideal platform for developing chiral magnetic materials. By coupling with silicene frameworks, organic nitronyl nitroxide (NN) radicals, a new class of diradicals are designed that exhibit both magnetism and chirality. These findings establish silicene-based chiral diradicals as promising candidates for applications in spintronics, quantum information science, and light-induced spin manipulation, setting the pathway for silicon-centered materials that describe chirality and magnetism.