Volume 1, Issue 9 1400128
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From an Organometallic Monolayer to an Organic Monolayer Covered by Metal Nanoislands: A Simple Thermal Protocol for the Fabrication of the Top Contact Electrode in Molecular Electronic Devices

Luz M. Ballesteros,

Departamento de Química Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, 50009 Spain

Instituto de Nanociencia de Aragón (INA), Campus Rio Ebro Edificio i+d Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, 50018 Spain

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Santiago Martín,

Departamento de Química Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, 50009 Spain

Instituto de Ciencia de Materiales de Aragón (ICMA), Universidad de Zaragoza-CSIC, Zaragoza, 50009 Spain

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Javier Cortés,

Departamento de Química Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, 50009 Spain

Instituto de Nanociencia de Aragón (INA), Campus Rio Ebro Edificio i+d Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, 50018 Spain

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Santiago Marqués-González,

Department of Chemistry, University of Durham, Durham, DH1 3LE United Kingdom

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Francesc Pérez-Murano,

Instituto de Microelectrónica de Barcelona (IMB-CNM, CSIC) Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Spain

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Richard J. Nichols,

Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, L69 7ZD United Kingdom

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Paul J. Low,

Department of Chemistry, University of Durham, Durham, DH1 3LE United Kingdom

School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Western Australia, Perth, 6009 Australia

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Pilar Cea,

Corresponding Author

Departamento de Química Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, 50009 Spain

Instituto de Nanociencia de Aragón (INA), Campus Rio Ebro Edificio i+d Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, 50018 Spain

Laboratorio de Microscopias Avanzadas (LMA), Campus Rio Ebro Edificio i+d Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, 50018 Spain

E-mail: pilarcea@unizar.esSearch for more papers by this author
First published: 26 June 2014
Citations: 14

Abstract

In this contribution, a novel method for practical uses in the fabrication of the top contact electrode in a metal/organic monolayer/metal device is presented. The procedure involves the thermally induced decomposition of an organometallic compound, abbreviated as the TIDOC method. Monolayers incorporating the metal organic compounds (MOCs) [[4-{(4-carboxy)ethynyl}phenyl]ethynyl]-(triphenylphosphine)-gold, 1, or [1-isocyano-4-methoxybenzene]-[4-amino-phenylethynyl]-gold, 2, were annealed at moderate temperatures (1: 150 °C for 2h and 2: 100 °C for 2 h), resulting in cleavage of the Au-P or Au-C bond and reduction of Au(I) to Au(0) as metallic gold nanoparticles (GNPs). These particles are distributed on the surface of the film resulting in formation of metal/molecule/GNP sandwich structures. Electrical properties of these nascent devices were determined by recording I–V curves with a conductive-AFM. The I–V curves collected from these metal/organic monolayer/GNPs sandwich structures are typical of metal-molecule-metal junctions, with no low resistance traces characteristic of metallic short circuits observed over a wide range of set-point forces. The TIDOC method is therefore an effective procedure for the fabrication of molecular junctions for the emerging area of molecular electronics.

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