This project will explore the molecular chemistry and single molecule conductance measurements that will allow us to take steps along the road toward a hybrid molecular electronic technology.

1. Summary of the project
2. Eligibility criteria
3. Readings
4. Contact the research team
5. How to apply
6. Scholarships

Summary of the project

The pursuit of rates of miniaturisation of electronic devices that keep pace with Moore’s Law has driven decades of technological achievement and new materials science in the semiconductor industry.

The success of these ventures to date is reflected in the vast technological and economic contributions of semiconductor technology to civil infrastructure and society, with estimates that the semiconductor industry generates over $120B in direct business, and contributes over $500B to the wider economy, representing some 10% of global GDP.

Devices with 22 nm feature sizes are now available and 14 nm technology is on the near horizon. However, the revision of Moore's Law to a doubling of comment density every 3 years rather than 18 - 24 months points to the magnitude of the challenges now being faced by the industry.

If the pace of electronic device development is to continue in the longer term then further reductions in feature size will be required. However, top-down scaling is becoming breathtakingly complex, demanding lithographically challenging 3-D designs (e.g. Intel’s ‘tri-gate’ 22 nm transistors), and new materials (e.g. the use of high-k gate dielectrics in place of SiO2).

Circuit components at the molecular level could exploit the small size, structural diversity and electronic properties of molecules to increase device density and to incorporate new functionality. 

Indeed, some 40 years after the Aviram-Ratner molecular rectifier, the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) has set a timeline moving molecular electronics from the pure research phase (2009 – 2018), through development (2019 – 2021) and into production (2022 onwards).

In this project we will combine chemical synthesis and a wide range of electrochemical, spectroscopic and computational methods, together with single molecule conductance measurements carried out in collaboration with partners worldwide to design, build and test molecular electronic devices.

The project will provide opportunities to learn key skills in one or more of these areas, and to participate in collaborative work in partner laboratories overseas.

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Eligibility criteria

Requirements specific to this project:

• a First Class bachelor's degree or master's degree in the chemical sciences with a significant research component
• evidence of research aptitude in the form of published research work, or a high quality research dissertation

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Readings

• H.M. Osorio, P. Cea, L.M. Ballesteros, I. Gascón, S. Marqués-González, R.J. Nichols, F. Pérez-Murano, P.J. Low, S. Martín, Preparation of nascent molecular electronic devices from gold nanoparticles and terminal alkyne functionalized monolayer films, J. Mater. Chem. C, 2014, 2, 7348-7355.
• L.M. Ballesteros, S. Martín, J. Cortés, S. Marqués-González, F. Pérez-Murano, R.J. Nichols, P.J. Low, P. Cea, 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, Adv. Mater. Interfaces, 2014, accepted in press.
• S. Marqués-González, D.S. Yufit, J.A.K. Howard, S. Martín, H.M. Osorio, V.M. Garcia-Suarez, R.J. Nichols, S.J. Higgins, P. Cea, P.J. Low, Simplifying the conductance profiles of molecular junctions: the use of the trimethylsilylethynyl moiety as a molecule-gold contact, Dalton Trans., 2013, 42, 338-341
• G. Pera, S. Martin, L.M. Ballesteros, A.J. Hope, P.J. Low, R.J. Nichols, P. Cea, Metal-molecule-metal junctions in Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) films using a new linker: trimethylsilane, Chem. Eur. J., 2010, 16, 13398 - 13405.
• M. Parthey, J.B.G. Gluyas, M.A. Fox, P.J. Low, M. Kaupp, Mixed-valence ruthenium complexes rotating through a conformational Robin-Day continuum, Chem. Eur. J., 2014, 20, 6895-6908.
• J.B.G. Gluyas, A.J. Boden, S.G. Eaves, H. Yu, P.J. Low, Long range charge transfer in trimetallic mixed valence iron complexes mediated by redox non-innocent cyanoacetylide ligands, Dalton Trans., 2014, 43, 6291-6294
  

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Contact the research team leader

Once you have ensured that you meet the eligibility criteria and are ready to discuss a proposal, contact the research team leader to identify a potential supervisor.

Research team leader: Professor Paul Low

I recently returned to Australia, after a long and fruitful period in Durham, UK. My research group is active in the development of synthetic organometallic chemistry and molecular components for electronics, elucidation of the electronic structure of redox active molecules using spectroelectrochemical and computational methods, and the development of new molecule-surface contacts for the assembly of nascent molecular electronic devices.

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How to apply

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Scholarships

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