Molecular Functionalisation of Semiconductor Surfaces
Lead Research Organisation:
University College London
Department Name: London Centre for Nanotechnology
Abstract
Developing the ability to control the flow of charge (electrons) through individual molecules is an exciting field of basic nano-science research that holds promise for the creation of the next generation of technology; from the ultimate level of device miniaturisation (single-molecule device components) to ultrasensitive sensors and novel devices such as a quantum computer. To put this into context, the study of electron transport through micro- and nano-structured metals and semiconductors has been the subject of intense research for decades. This research forms the basis of current electronics technology and the ongoing advancements in this field continue to facilitate dramatic improvements in miniaturisation and performance of electronic devices. At the same time, electron flow within individual molecules is fundamental to a wide range of naturally-occurring chemical and biological processes; chemical reactions occur when there is an energetically favourable path for electrons to flow between and/or within molecules, resulting in a rearrangement of electron density from electron-rich to electron-deficient regions. Important examples of charge transfer in molecules occur in photosynthesis and its technological analogues in organic photovoltaics; and in mechanisms of DNA damage and repair. As such, the research proposed here to study the transport of charge through molecular junctions lies at the interface between traditional areas of research in condensed matter physics and chemistry, and is of both great fundamental interest and technological importance in these and other areas including nano-biotechnology.The overall aim of this proposal is to investigate the nature of charge transport through individual molecules with well characterised electrical contacts, under highly controlled environmental conditions. Individual molecules will be adsorbed to atomically-clean semiconductor surfaces in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV). Scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM) measurements will be performed to elucidate the precise nature of the bonding of the molecule to the surface. Subsequently, scanning tunnelling spectroscopy (STS) measurements will be used to characterise the electronic structure of the resulting molecule/semiconductor/metal(tip) junction. Measurements will be performed at temperatures between 2 Kelvin and room temperature, in externally applied magnetic fields of up to 6 Tesla, and with in-situ generated electric fields created through surface nanolithography. This will allow the investigation of a broad range of possible electron transport phenomena, the nature of which will depend on the properties of the particular molecule and the extent of its coupling to the surface and the STM tip.
People |
ORCID iD |
Steven Schofield (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Belcher D
(2009)
Carbonyl mediated attachment to silicon: Acetaldehyde on Si(001)
in The Journal of Chemical Physics
Belcher DR
(2012)
Guided self-assembly of metal atoms on silicon using organic-molecule templating.
in Journal of the American Chemical Society
Bozkurt M
(2013)
Magnetic anisotropy of single Mn acceptors in GaAs in an external magnetic field
in Physical Review B
Brázdová V
(2017)
Exact location of dopants below the Si(001):H surface from scanning tunneling microscopy and density functional theory
in Physical Review B
Gramse G
(2017)
Nondestructive imaging of atomically thin nanostructures buried in silicon.
in Science advances
Grzela T
(2014)
Interface and nanostructure evolution of cobalt germanides on Ge(001)
in Journal of Applied Physics
Koczorowski W
(2018)
Higher order reconstructions of the Ge(001) surface induced by a Ba layer
in Applied Surface Science
Koczorowski W
(2016)
STM and DFT study on formation and characterization of Ba-incorporated phases on a Ge(001) surface
in Physical Review B
Koczorowski W
(2015)
Ba termination of Ge(001) studied with STM.
in Nanotechnology
Description | We have expanded the boundaries of knowledge at the organic/inorganic interface, specifically organic molecules on silicon. We have also developed new concepts in atomic point defects at silicon surfaces of importance for future atomic scale devices. |
Exploitation Route | The research that we are doing is well suited for future application as we are developing knowledge of the fundamentals at the atomic scale. There are still significant boundaries to the construction of real devices at this scale, but this research programme continues to contribute at the fundamental level for informing future activities. |
Sectors | Electronics |
Description | Contributions to academic knowledge |
First Year Of Impact | 2009 |
Description | Developing Leaders Meeting - CAF |
Amount | £249,864 (GBP) |
Funding ID | EP/L002140/1 |
Organisation | Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 06/2013 |
End | 06/2015 |
Title | Benzonitrile/Si(001) dataset |
Description | Data from Australian Synchrotron, DFT calculations, and STM measurements at UCL relating to the publication: K. M. O'Donnell, H. Hedgeland, G. Moore, A. Suleman, M. Siegl, L. Thomsen, O. Warschkow, and S. R. Schofield, "Orientation and stability of a bi-functional aromatic organic molecular adsorbate on silicon," Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., vol. 18, pp. 27290-27299, 2016. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2016 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Data is available. |
URL | https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.154112 |
Description | Semiconductor surface chemistry |
Organisation | University of Delaware |
Country | United States |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | Photoelectron spectroscopy studies of semiconductor surface chemistry |
Collaborator Contribution | Infrared spectroscopy studies of semiconductor surface chemistry |
Impact | Publications and conference invitations. |
Start Year | 2014 |
Description | Chair of international three day conference: Advanced Materials for Demanding Applications |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Type Of Presentation | workshop facilitator |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | A meeting at the conference has led to ongoing discussions regarding a potential industrial collaboration with Zyvex Labs. in Dallas, TX, USA. The conference was covered by BBC radio, with a 20 minute segment including interviews with the invited speakers. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
URL | http://amda2014.iopconfs.org/home |
Description | Chair: Nanoscale Physics and Technology Group of the Institute of Physics |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
Results and Impact | Chair of an IOP group committee Chair IOP group committee. Awarding Body - Institute of Physics, Name of Scheme - Nanoscale Physics and Technology Group Through my role on this committee I have organised numerous workshops and events. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
URL | http://www.iop.org/activity/groups/subject/npt/ |
Description | Committee Member: Nanoscale Physics and Technology Group of the Institute of Physics |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | Yes |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
Results and Impact | IOP group committee member . Awarding Body - Institute of Physics, Name of Scheme - Nanoscale Physics and Technology Group I helped organise various workshop and events. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2009 |
Description | Departmental Seminar - University of Delaware |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Research seminar |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | Invited Talk: 29th European Conference on Surface Science (ECOSS-29), |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | keynote/invited speaker |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | A very interesting international conference that led to numerous discussion of my research. Discussions with leading experts in the field were very valuable. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2012 |
URL | http://physicsworld.com/cws/event/2012/sep/03/-cmd-24-ecoss-29-ecscd-11-cmmp-12- |
Description | Invited Talk: 544th Wilhelm und Else Heraeus-Seminar, "Interactions with the Nanoworld |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | keynote/invited speaker |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | A very nice meeting of experts in scanning probe microscopy and atomic scale manipulation. Valuable discussions with leaders in the field. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
URL | http://mpsd-cmd.cfel.de/weh544/index.html |
Description | Invited Talk: Chemistry of Semiconductor Surfaces, Telluride, CO, USA |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | keynote/invited speaker |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | This intimate conference of just 25 carefully selected experts was an invite-only conference. This was an extremely valuable workshop of a small group of experts. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | Invited Talk: Interdisciplinary Surface Science Conference (ISSC-19) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | keynote/invited speaker |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | An interesting international workshop that led to good discussions with world leading experts. Valuable discussions after my talk. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
URL | http://physicsworld.com/cws/event/2014/jul/21/icsos-11-11th-international-conference-on-the-structur... |
Description | Invited Talk: MicroScience 2010, Scanning Probe Microscopy (UKSPM), London, UK |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | keynote/invited speaker |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | A nice meeting of national (and some international) scientists in scanning probe techniques and applications. A great chance to become more familiar with the national community in scanning probe measurements. Led to establishment of good national contacts. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2010 |
Description | Invited talk: American Physical Society March Meeting 2014 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | keynote/invited speaker |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | There was significant interest in my talk; this is the largest condensed matter physics meeting in the world and my talk was in the largest auditorium at the meeting so this reached quite a wide audience. I have been invited to several other meetings to speak on this topic and had invitations to collaborate with various international groups. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
URL | http://meetings.aps.org/Meeting/MAR14/Session/B39.1 |
Description | Invited talk: International Conference on Atomic Scale Wires |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | keynote/invited speaker |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Very good discussions with key international competitors and collaborators at this workshop Extremely valuable to share information about the stages of experiments in various international laboratories. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
URL | http://atwires.nanosam.pl/atwires/index.html |
Description | Invited talk: International Conference on Atomic Scale Wires |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | keynote/invited speaker |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Very good discussions with key international competitors and collaborators at this workshop Extremely valuable to share information about the stages of experiments in various international laboratories. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
URL | http://atwires.nanosam.pl/atwires/index.html |
Description | Organising Committee Member, 39th International Conference on Micro and Nano Engineering (MNE2013) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | workshop facilitator |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | A very successful international conference series being run in the UK for the first time in over a decade. This was a great opportunity for me to become more familiar with large conference organisation and I have chaired several workshops since this drawing on my experience. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
URL | http://www.mne2013.org/ |
Description | Press Release (UCL): Building quantum states with individual silicon atoms |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Participants in your research and patient groups |
Results and Impact | UCL press release. http://www.ucl.ac.uk/news/news-articles/0413/030412-building-quantum-states-with-individual-silicon-atoms I have had numerous requests for invited talks on the research detailed in this press release. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
URL | http://www.nature.com/ncomms/journal/v4/n4/abs/ncomms2679.html |
Description | Research Seminar - Czech Academy of Science |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Research seminar |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | Research Seminar - University of Twente, The Netherlands |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Research seminar |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | Section Editor, JPCM |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Promoted to Section Editor for Surface and Interfaces at the Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
URL | http://iopscience.iop.org/journal/0953-8984/page/Editorial%20Board |
Description | Workshop: Theory meets Experiment - Organic Molecules on Inorganic Surfaces |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Type Of Presentation | workshop facilitator |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | One-day international workshop. This one-day workshop was co-organised by the PI. International invited speakers: John Boland (Trinity College Dublin) John Polanyi (University of Toronto) Damien Riedel (Institut des Sciences Moléculaires d'Orsay) Andrew Teplyakov (University of Delaware) Saw Wai Hla (Ohio University) Oliver Warschkow (University of Sydney) We will be organising a repeat workshop (and expanding to a three day programme) in 2015 |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
URL | http://www.thomasyoungcentre.org/events/theory-meets-experiment-organic-molecules-on-semiconductor-s... |