LOCAL ELECTRON TRANSPORT OF ORGANIC SEMICONDUCTING MONOLAYERS

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dc.contributorHudgings, Janiceen_US
dc.contributorSidman, Jessicaen_US
dc.contributor.advisorAidala, Katherineen_US
dc.contributor.authorChen, Dantien_US
dc.date.accessioned2011-02-16T13:46:43Z
dc.date.available2011-02-16T13:46:43Z
dc.date.gradyear2009en_US
dc.date.issued2011-02-16
dc.date.submitted2009-05-23 20:05:37en_US
dc.description.abstractNanoscale devices are promising for the next generation of electronics, providing possibilities for greater hard drive storage capacity and higher computer execution speed. There are many strategies to produce such devices, molecular-scale electronics being a promising one. Transistors act as small switches that have a conducting channel controlled by a gate voltage. The gate is separated from the channel by a thin insulator. A potential design for a nanoscale transistor switch is to use a single monolayer of material that serves as both the insulator and the conducting channel. Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) are excellent candidates to build these tiny transistors. The novel alkyl monolayer in my study is covalently bonded to the silicon substrate, providing the insulating layer. These alkyl chains can be functionalized with a conducting molecule to provide the conducting channel. There are many technical challenges to applying voltages and measuring currents on such small devices. There lacks an encompassing model to describe semiconducting SAMs. I used atomic force microscopy to study the metal-monolayer-semiconductor (MMS) system, which is formed by bringing a conductive tip in contact with the surface. More specifically, I measured the dependence of current on the length of the alkyl chains, and compared my findings to those from existing literature on similar alkyl based SAMs. I found that the resistance of alkyl monolayers increases exponentially as the number of carbons increases. After examining several competing models, I found that the tunneling model rather than the Schottky barrier model better describe the electron transport mechanism for the MMS system under investigation.en_US
dc.description.sponsorshipPhysicsen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10166/619
dc.language.isoen_USen_US
dc.rights.restrictedpublic
dc.subjectnanoscienceen_US
dc.subjectsemiconductoren_US
dc.subjectmonolayeren_US
dc.subjectCurrent voltage characteristicsen_US
dc.subjectCPen_US
dc.subjectAFMen_US
dc.titleLOCAL ELECTRON TRANSPORT OF ORGANIC SEMICONDUCTING MONOLAYERSen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
mhc.degreeUndergraduateen_US
mhc.institutionMount Holyoke Collegeen_US

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