Substrate and Head Group Modifications for Enhanced Stability in Molecular Electronic Devices

摘要

Poor Self-Assembled Monolayer (SAM) stability is a barrier which impedes the incorporation of molecular layers as functional components in electronic device architectures. Here we investigate the molecular electronic characteristics of two well established approaches to enhancing SAM stability. In Chapter 2 we investigate the electrochemical modification of Au substrates by the underpotential deposition of silver monolayers (AgUPD). In Chapter 3 we study chelating dithiophosphinic acid (DTPA) head groups to anchor SAM molecules to substrates. Based on molecular electronic characterization using EGaIn Tip testbeds, we observed that AgUPD substrates maintained the inherent electronic character of n-alkanethiolate SAMs, but reduced charge transport by almost 1 order of magnitude as compared with the same SAMs on bulk Au substrates. Similar molecular electronic characterization of (diphenyl)dithiophosphinic acid SAMs on Au substrates revealed that the DTPA head group induced a ~3 order of magnitude drop in charge transport as compared with analogous thiophenol SAMs.