ORGANICS: Patterned Fabrication of Organic Conductors at the Nanoscale

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Objective of this Proposal: The objective of this proposal is to develop general methods for the fabrication of patterned electrically conducting organic domains at the nanoscale. This will be accomplished by using dip pen nanolithography (DPN) to prepare patterned structures of two-component (organic donor/acceptor) charge transfer (CT) monolayers on silicon. The electrical properties of CT monolayers on silicon will be measured by scanning probe microscopies to determine suitability for electronic device applications such as transistors and resonant tunneling diodes, as well as more complex circuitry built from these device functionalities.Intellectual Merit and Broader Impact: The fabrication of logic and memory devices from molecular components is a challenging goal that could enable special purpose electronic circuits that are orders of magnitude smaller, faster, and less expensive than those made by existing silicon (CMOS) technology. Fabricating molecular components at the nanometer scale also brings enormous challenges in synthesis (chemistry), characterizing unequivocally (physics), and adapting functional behavior into useful devices. Dip pen nanolithography (DPN) will be used for the first time to deliver with nanoscale precision electron acceptors over monolayers of electron donors to define patterned conducting regions made from molecules. If electronic devices are one day assembled from molecules, a new era in device technology would be born. While the consequences of such a revolutionary shift in technology cannot accurately be assessed today, the impact to manufacturing and the national and global economy could be significant. This program will engage the participation of graduate and undergraduate students. The PI's both actively participate in their institutions' educational outreach programs, which seek to integrate the insights and approaches of the research, and to inform and inspire pre-college through graduate students, as well as the general public.