Characterization of electrochemically grafted molecular layers on silicon for electronic device applications

Adina Scott, Purdue University - Main Campus
David B. Janes, Purdue University

Abstract

Recently, there has been considerable interest in developing organically functionalized silicon surfaces for a variety of applications including sensing and nanoelectronics. In this study, a series of as-deposited, para-substituted aryl-diazonium molecular layers covalently grafted to < 111 >-orientation silicon are characterized using a variety of surface analysis techniques. Collectively, these measurements suggest that relatively ideal molecular layers can be achieved with a variety of headgroups. Submonolayer amounts of silicon oxide are detected on all modified surfaces and the extent of silicon oxidation depends on the molecular substituent. For electronic device applications, it is necessary to apply contacts to molecular layers while maintaining their structural and chemical integrity. To this end, in situ spectroscopies are used to infer the effects of metallization on such molecular layers. It is found that applying gold using a soft evaporation technique does not significantly perturb the molecular layer, whereas the application of copper using the same technique induces changes in the molecular vibrational spectra. Two complementary in situ spectroscopic methods are analyzed to more accurately determine the chemical properties of gold/molecule/silicon junctions. The physical mechanisms of the measurements and consequences for interpretation of the resulting spectra are discussed.

Discipline(s)

Engineering | Nanoscience and Nanotechnology