Defect-originated magnetism in carbon-based and non-traditional inorganic compounds: A new class of magnetic materials

Magnetism in organic and non-traditional inorganic materials ( NTIMs) is a fascinating phenomenon from both scientific and technological perspective. Recent experimental discovery of ferromagnetism in organic C-60-based polymers has challenged the traditional concepts of the origin of magnetism. Although the nature of the s-p magnetism of the C-60-based polymers has been distinguished from the nature of the newly observed magnetism in NTIMs, a defect-based picture of magnetism is found to provide a common thread connecting all these materials. As shown in the present work, this magnetism can be considered as a generalized form of the well-known McConnell model, thereby providing a unified classication of these magnetic materials and elucidating its common origin with the d-ferromagnetism.