Molecular Diodes With Rectification Ratios Exceeding 105 Driven By Electrostatic Interactions
Abstract
Molecular diodes operating in the tunnelling regime are intrinsically limited to a maximum rectification ratio R of 103. To enhance this rectification ratio to values comparable to those of conventional diodes (R ≥ 10 5) an alternative mechanism of rectification is therefore required. Here, we report a molecular diode with R = 6.3 × 105 based on self-assembled monolayers with Fc-Câ ‰ C-Fc (Fc, ferrocenyl) termini. The number of molecules (n(V)) involved in the charge transport changes with the polarity of the applied bias. More specifically, n(V) increases at forward bias because of an attractive electrostatic force between the positively charged Fc units and the negatively charged top electrode, but remains constant at reverse bias when the Fc units are neutral and interact weakly with the positively charged electrode. We successfully model this mechanism using molecular dynamics calculations.
Publication Date
8-1-2017
Publication Title
Nature Nanotechnology
Volume
12
Issue
8
Number of Pages
797-803
Document Type
Article
Personal Identifier
scopus
DOI Link
https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2017.110
Copyright Status
Unknown
Socpus ID
85026885877 (Scopus)
Source API URL
https://api.elsevier.com/content/abstract/scopus_id/85026885877
STARS Citation
Chen, Xiaoping; Roemer, Max; Yuan, Li; Du, Wei; and Thompson, Damien, "Molecular Diodes With Rectification Ratios Exceeding 105 Driven By Electrostatic Interactions" (2017). Scopus Export 2015-2019. 6212.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/scopus2015/6212