Ultrasmooth Gold as a Top Metal Electrode for Molecular Electronic Devices

Published

April 7, 2009

Author(s)

Mariona Coll Bau, Christina A. Hacker, Lauren H. Miller, Daniel R. Hines, E. C. Williams, Curt A. Richter

Abstract

In the emerging area of molecular electronics, fabrication of reliable metallic contacts remains one of the most critical challenges. Nanotransfer printing (nTP) is an attractive low-cost non-destructive technique to provide contact to organic monolayers. This work introduces the use of ultrasmooth nanolaminated gold on polymeric substrates, fabricated by using an nTP-based method, as a novel means to form metal-molecule-silicon molecular electronic test structures. We have used self-assembly to fabricate high-quality COOH-terminated alkanethiols on ultrasmooth gold. Covalent bonding to the H-Si(111) substrate was achieved through the application of moderate pressure and temperature. Because of the critical role of molecular conformation on electrical properties, infrared spectroscopy was used to explore the influence of these two parameters (P,T) on molecular ordering. Moderate conditions effectively fabricate high-quality reproducible molecular electronic test structures preserving molecular conformation with molecules bonded to both electrodes. This work proves a useful strategy for the development of hybrid nanoelectronic devices.

Citation

Electrochemical Society Transactions

Volume

16

Issue

25

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

Local Download

Keywords

molecular electronics, nanotransfer printing, infrared spectroscopy

Citation

Coll, M. , Hacker, C. , Miller, L. , Hines, D. , , E. and Richter, C. (2009), Ultrasmooth Gold as a Top Metal Electrode for Molecular Electronic Devices, Electrochemical Society Transactions, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=900902 (Accessed October 12, 2025)