Jiang, L,Sangeeth, CSS,Yuan, L,Thompson, D,Nijhuis, CA

2015

October

Nano Letters

One-Nanometer Thin Mono layers Remove the Deleterious Effect of Substrate Defects in Molecular Tunnel Junctions

Published

()

Molecular electronics EGaIn junctions self-assembled monolayers self-repair defects SELF-ASSEMBLED MONOLAYERS CHARGE-TRANSPORT SURFACE-STRUCTURES BOTTOM ELECTRODES INJECTION CURRENT LEAKAGE CURRENTS SPIN SELECTIVITY CONTACT AREA AU(111) DIODES

15

6643

6649

Defects in self-assembled monolayer (SAMs) based junctions cause the largest deviation between predicted and measured values of the tunnelling current. We report the remarkable, seemingly counterintuitive finding that shorter, less-ordered SAMs provide, unlike taller crystalline-like SAMs, higher quality tunnelling barriers on defective substrates, which points to self-repair of liquid-like SAMs on defects. The molecular dynamics show that short-chain molecules can more easily rotate into low-density boundary regions and smoothen out defects than thick solid-like SAMs. Our findings point to an attractive means of removing their deleterious effects simply by using flexible molecules.

10.1021/acs.nanolett.5b02481