Photochromic diarylethene as an information processing unit: Magnetic and electric switching
Photochromic compounds reversibly change not only the absorption spectra but also their geometrical and electronic structures. This principle can be applied for the photoswitching of the physical properties of the molecular materials. In particular, photoswitching of the flow of information through the molecule is interesting because information processing using molecular devices is attracting interest in the molecular electronics field. The photoswitchings of the magnetic exchange interaction and the electrical conductance using photochromic diarylethene are described.