Although silicon devices have dominated the electronics industry for six decades, carbon-based materials are being explored for a range of conventional and novel applications.  In this presentation we review interesting new results on the surface and interface chemistry of several carbon-based materials: rubrene, graphene and polythiophene.  Central to the use of these materials in devices are their reactivity with oxygen.  The oxidation of organics changes their energy levels, charge transport properties, optical response and bonding to other materials.  Rubrene is an organic molecule which when crystallized shows the highest mobility of any organic. We report on very striking aspects of the oxidation of crystalline rubrene, and on the effects of oxidation on rubrene-based device properties.  Although graphene is somewhat unique in that it is quite unreactive relative to organic semiconductors, oxidation is one of the best ways to initiate functionalization.  We discuss new chemistries relevant for graphene functionalization and for the exfoliation of graphite to produce significant quantities of graphene.  Polymer bonding to nanostructured ZnO is another case in which the bonding of an organic to an adjoining material controls device properties.  In this work, we show how electropolymerization leads to a greatly improved bonding and film growth, especially important in photovoltaic applications. Results of photoemission, ion scattering, scanning probe, and other surface/thin film methods for these materials are reviewed. We also discuss some aspects of doping to control physical properties of organics.

Carbon-based materials in nanoelectronics

244th National Meeting (2012)

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