Chemoresponsive monolayer transistors.
This work details a method to make efficacious field-effect transistors from monolayers of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that are able to sense and respond to their chemical environment. The molecules used in this study are functionalized so that they assemble laterally into columns and attach themselves to the silicon oxide surface of a silicon wafer. To measure the electrical properties of these monolayers, we use ultrasmall point contacts that are separated by only a few nanometers as the source and drain electrodes. These contacts are formed through an oxidative cutting of an individual metallic single-walled carbon nanotube that is held between macroscopic metal leads. The molecules assemble in the gap and form transistors with large current modulation and high gate efficiency. Because these devices are formed from an individual stack of molecules, their electrical properties change significantly when exposed to electron-deficient molecules such as tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ), forming the basis for new types of environmental and molecular sensors.
Guo
Xuefeng
X
Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
Myers
Matthew
M
Xiao
Shengxiong
S
Lefenfeld
Michael
M
Steiner
Rachel
R
Tulevski
George S
GS
Tang
Jinyao
J
Baumert
Julian
J
Leibfarth
Frank
F
Yardley
James T
JT
Steigerwald
Michael L
ML
Kim
Philip
P
Nuckolls
Colin
C
D015374:Biosensing Techniques; D004563:Electrochemistry; D015394:Molecular Structure; D036103:Nanotechnology; D043942:Nanotubes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000648:ultrastructure; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons / Q000737:chemistry*; D017655:Silicon Compounds / Q000737:chemistry
D011084:Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons; D017655:Silicon Compounds