Microscopy of Functional Molecules

功能分子的显微镜检查

• 批准号: RGPIN-2015-06085
• 负责人: McLean, Alastair
• 金额: $ 2.04万
• 依托单位: Queen's University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2018
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2018-01-01 至 2019-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=659362
• 关键词: Microscopy; Functional; Molecules

Organic electronic materials are carbon-rich compounds with a composition and structure that is tailored to optimize a particular functional property such as charge mobility, photoconductivity or luminescence/phosphorescence. Because the manufacturing and processing costs of organic materials are low, and they can be deposited on low cost (flexible) substrates, organic thin films are now important parts of many commercial products, the most notable being the high efficiency, bright and colorful displays that have appeared on mobile phones and tablets. There is also significant research effort to develop stable thin-film transistors and photovoltaic devices for low cost energy generation with this technology.*** ***Despite the recent commercial success of organic thin-film electronics, grand challenges remain to be solved before the full potential of molecule-based electronics can be realized. To fulfill this vision of using inexpensive, atomically precise molecules in electronic devices or as devices, new ways of measuring and controlling the functional properties of molecules embedded in a solid state device or sensor are required. This is because the properties of single molecule devices depend, crucially, on every detail of the molecule's configuration, including the contact to the solid state host. ***    ***In the last five years, there have been dramatic improvements in the capabilities of scanning probes that have important implications for the study of molecules at surfaces. These include the ability to: measure electroluminescence from molecules with sub-molecular resolution, clearly resolve single covalent bonds between carbon atoms, discriminate the bond order of covalent bonds, and probe the charge distribution within single molecules. Some of these advances depend upon the ability to create atomically precise tips with 'probe' particles (CO or Xe). Others depend on the stability afforded by quartz cantilevers (qPlus sensors).*******In this proposal, we seek to address the grand challenges of molecule-based electronics by exploiting these new capabilities. Our long term goal is atomic-level control of the organic-inorganic interface. As a step towards this, we will measure and manipulate the functional properties of molecules at surfaces and investigate a new way of attaching molecules to metal surfaces using n-heterocyclic carbenes.  The research program is international, multidisciplinary and collaborative. It involves Chemists, who will synthesize molecules, three theoretical groups, who will perform first principles calculations, and three experimental groups, who possess complementary expertise to my group at Queen's. Canadian graduate students will work closely with theorists and travel to our experimental collaborators to take advantage of scanning probe microscopes that operate at low temperature (1 K), at high magnetic field (8 T) and with light detection.**

有机电子材料是富含碳的化合物，其成分和结构经过专门设计，可优化特定的功能特性，例如电荷迁移率、光电导性或发光/磷光。 由于有机材料的制造和加工成本较低，并且可以沉积在低成本（柔性）基板上，有机薄膜现在已成为许多商业产品的重要组成部分，其中最引人注目的是手机和平板电脑上出现的高效、明亮、色彩丰富的显示器。 我们还投入了大量的研究工作来开发稳定的薄膜晶体管和光伏器件，以利用该技术实现低成本发电。******尽管有机薄膜电子产品最近在商业上取得了成功，但在充分发挥基于分子的电子产品的潜力之前，仍需解决巨大的挑战。为了实现在电子设备或设备中使用廉价、原子级精确的分子的愿景，需要新的方法来测量和控制嵌入固态设备或传感器中的分子的功能特性。这是因为单分子器件的特性在很大程度上取决于分子配置的每个细节，包括与固态主体的接触。 ***   ***在过去五年中，扫描探针的能力有了显着的提高，这对表面分子的研究具有重要意义。这些功能包括：以亚分子分辨率测量分子的电致发光，清晰解析碳原子之间的单个共价键，区分共价键的键序，以及探测单个分子内的电荷分布。其中一些进步取决于使用“探测”粒子（CO 或 Xe）创建原子级精确尖端的能力。其他依赖于石英悬臂梁（qPlus 传感器）提供的稳定性。********在本提案中，我们寻求通过利用这些新功能来解决基于分子的电子产品的巨大挑战。我们的长期目标是有机-无机界面的原子级控制。作为实现这一目标的一步，我们将测量和操纵表面分子的功能特性，并研究一种使用正杂环卡宾将分子附着到金属表面的新方法。  该研究项目是国际性的、多学科的和协作性的。它包括化学家，他们将合成分子，三个理论小组，他们将进行第一原理计算，以及三个实验小组，他们拥有与我在女王大学的小组互补的专业知识。 加拿大研究生将与理论家密切合作，并前往我们的实验合作者处，利用在低温 (1 K)、高磁场 (8 T) 和光检测下运行的扫描探针显微镜。**