Abstract
We report experimental electrical characterization of Al/AlOx/molecule/Ti/Al planar crossbar devices incorporating Langmuir–Blodgett organic monolayers of eicosanoic acid, ‘fast blue’, or chlorophyll-B. Current–voltage and capacitance–voltage measurements on all three molecular device structures exhibited controllable switching hysteresis. Control devices containing no molecules showed no evidence of switching. A model of interface trapped charge mediating electronic transport appears consistent with all of the data. This data illustrates the importance of considering the complete device system (consisting of the molecules, the electrodes, and the interfaces) when analyzing its electrical behavior.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
R. McCreery: Electrochem. Soc. Interface 13, 25, 30, 46 (2004); S.M. Lindsay: Electrochem. Soc. Interface 13, 22 (2004); W.G. Kuhr: Electrochem. Soc. Interface 13, 34 (2004); R.M. Metzger: Electrochem. Soc. Interface 13, 40 (2004)
C.R. Kagan, M.A. Ratner: MRS Bull. 29, 376 (2004); M.C. Hersham, R.G. Reifenberger: MRS Bull. 29, 385 (2004); A.W. Ghosh, P. Damle, S. Datta, A. Nitzan: MRS Bull. 29, 391 (2004); J.G. Kushmerick, D.L. Allara, T.E. Mallouk, T.S. Mayer: MRS Bull. 29, 396 (2004)
J.R. Heath, M.A. Ratner: Phys. Today 56, 43 (2003)
K. Kwok, J. Ellenbogen: Mater. Today 5, 28 (2002)
J. Chen, M.A. Reed, A.M. Rawlett, J.M. Tour: Science 286, 1550 (1999)
M.A. Reed, J. Chen, A.M. Rawlett, D.W. Price, J.M. Tour: Appl. Phys. Lett. 78, 3735 (2001)
J. Chen, M.A. Reed: Chem. Phys. 281, 127 (2002)
W.Y. Wang, T. Lee, M.A. Reed: Phys. Rev. B 68, 035416 (2003)
W.Y. Wang, T. Lee, I. Kretzschmar, M.A. Reed: NanoLetters 4, 643 (2004)
M.A. Reed, C. Zhou, C.J. Muller, T.P. Burgin, J.M. Tour: Science 278, 252 (1997)
J. Park, A.N. Pasupathy, J.I. Goldsmith, C. Chang, Y. Yaish, J.R. Petta, M. Rinkoski, J.P. Sethna, H.D. Abruna, P.L. McEuen, D.C. Ralph: Nature 417, 722 (2002)
W. Liang, M.P. Shores, M. Bockrath, J.R. Long, H. Park: Nature 417, 725 (2002)
C.P. Collier, E.W. Wong, M. Belohradsky, F.M. Raymo, J.F. Stoddart, P.J. Kuekes, R.S. Williams, J.R. Heath: Science 285, 391 (1999)
C.P. Collier, G. Mattersteig, E.W. Wong, Y. Luo, K. Beverly, J. Sampaio, F.M. Raymo, J.F. Stoddart, J.R. Heath: Science 289, 1172 (2000)
D.R. Stewart, D.A.A. Ohlberg, P.A. Beck, Y. Chen, R.S. Williams, J.O. Jeppesen, K.A. Nielsen, J.F. Stoddart: Nanoletters 4, 133 (2004)
J.G. Kushmerick, D.B. Holt, J.C. Yang, J. Naciri, M.H. Moore, R. Shashidhar: Phys. Rev. Lett. 89, 086802 (2002)
C.A. Richter, C.A. Hacker, L.J. Richter, E.M. Vogel: Solid-State Electron. 48, 1747 (2004)
R.F. Service: Science 302, 556 (2003)
J.R. Heath, J.F. Stoddart, R.S. Williams, E.A. Chandross, P.S. Weiss, R.F. Service: Science 303, 1136 (2004)
Y. Chen, G.-Y. Jung, D.A.A. Ohlberg, X.M. Li, D.R. Stewart, J.O. Jeppesen, K.A. Nielsen, J.F. Stoddart, R.S. Williams: Nanotechnology 14, 462 (2003)
Y. Luo, C.P. Collier, J.O. Jeppesen, K.A. Nielsen, E. Delonno, G. Ho, J. Perkins, H.R. Tseng, T. Yamamoto, J.F. Stoddart, J.R. Heath: Chem. Phys. Chem. 3, 519 (2002)
G.Y. Jung, S. Ganapathiappan, X. Li, D.A.A. Ohlberg, D.L. Olynick, Y. Chen, W.M. Tong, R.S. Williams: Appl. Phys. A78, 1169 (2004)
N.A. Melosh, A. Boukai, F. Diana, B. Gerardot, A. Badolato, P.M. Petroff, J.R. Heath: Science 300, 112 (2003)
J. Chen, W. Wang, M.A. Reed, A.M. Rawlett, D.W. Price, J.M. Tour: Appl. Phys. Lett. 77, 1224 (2000)
Y. Chen, D.A.A. Ohlberg, X. Li, D.R. Stewart, R.S. Williams, J.O. Jeppesen, K.A. Nielsen, J.F. Stoddart, D.L. Olynick, E. Anderson: Appl. Phys. Lett. 83, 1610 (2003)
Z.J. Donhauser, B.A. Mantooth, K.F. Kelly, L.A. Bumm, J.D. Monnell, J.J. Stapleton, D.W. Price, A.M. Rawlett, D.L. Allara, J.M. Tour, P.S. Weiss: Science 292, 2303 (2001)
G.K. Ramachandran, T.J. Hopson, A.M. Rawlett, L.A. Nagahara, A. Primak, S.M. Lindsay: Science 300, 1413 (2003)
D.I. Gittins, D. Bethell, D.J. Schiffrin, R.J. Nichols: Nature 408, 67 (2000)
Qualitatively similar electrical results are obtained for devices fabricated from both native and plasma/deposited AlOx. All the data shown here are acquired from devices containing native AlOx
E.P. Gusev, D.A. Buchanan, P. Jamison, T.H. Zabel, M. Copel: Microelectron. Eng. 48, 67 (1999)
D.M. Brown, F.K. Heumann, H.R. Philipp, E.A. Taft: J. Electrochem. Soc. 115, 311 (1968)
The two largest sources of uncertainty in the extraction of a ‘true’ physical thickness from capacitance in these devices are (a) the uncertainty in the permitivitty of the dielectrics and (b) the area of the device. For a given analysis model, a fixed value of permitivitty is chosen and therefore does not contribute to the uncertainty. Because a shadow mask is used for top metallization, the area of the devices is relatively poorly known. The uncertainty as determined by simple optical microscopy is 15% for a 70 μm2 device. A Hewlett-Packard model HP4284A LCR meter [33] was used to acquire capacitance (and conductance) as a function of voltage. The precision of this meter is high and the noise level of this system is low, so that small changes in the device capacitance (such as seen in Figs. 5 and 6) can be confidently observed. However, it is the absolute accuracy of the measurements (along with the chosen model and permittivities) that affects the extracted thickness parameters. The absolute accuracy is dependent upon the parameters of a given device under test. For typical eicosanoic acid devices presented here, the LCR meter is accurate to <≈1%. Unintentional stray capacitances arising from cabling and probe-station fixtures are also expected to affect the absolute accuracy of the measured value of capacitance. Thus, it is possible that there is a larger uncertainty than quoted in the extracted thickness values of the dielectric layers in these devices
We identify certain commercial equipment, instruments, or materials in this article to specify adequately the experimental procedure. In no case does such identification imply recommendation or endorsement by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, nor does it imply that the materials or equipment identified are necessarily the best available for the purpose
L.P. Trombetta, F.J. Feigl, R.J. Zeto: J. Appl. Phys. 69, 2512 (1991)
M.V. Fischetti: Phys. Rev. B 31, 2099 (1985)
R.S. Scott, N.A. Dumin: IEEE Trans. Electron Devices 43, 130 (1996)
R. Natarajan, D.J. Dumin: J. Electrochem. Soc. 142, 645 (1995)
S.-C. Chang, Z. Li, C.N. Lau, B. Larade, R.S. Williams: Appl. Phys. Lett. 83, 3198 (2003)
B. de Boer, M.M. Frank, Y.J. Chabal, W.R. Jiang, E. Garfunkel, Z. Bao: Langmuir 20, 1539 (2004)
A.V. Walker, T.B. Tighe, J. Stapleton, B.C. Haynie, S. Upilli, D.L. Allara, N. Winograd: Appl. Phys. Lett. 84, 4008 (2004)
K. Konstadinidis, P. Zhang, R.L. Opilla, D.L. Allara: Surf. Sci. 338, 300 (1995)
R. McCreery, J. Dieringer, A.O. Solak, B. Snyder, A.M. Nowak, W.R. McGovern, S. DuVall: J. Am. Chem. Soc. 126, 6200 (2004)
C.N. Lau, D.R. Stewart, R.S. Williams, M. Bockrath: NanoLetters 4, 569 (2004)
R. McCreery, J. Dieringer, A.O. Solak, B. Snyder, A.M. Nowak, W.R. McGovern, S. DuVall: J. Am. Chem. Soc. 125, 10748 (2003)
R. McCreery: personal communication
W.R. McGovern, F. Anariba, R.L. McCreery: submitted
D. Mardare, C. Baban, R. Gavrila, M. Modreanu, G.I. Rusu: Surf. Sci. 507–510, 468 (2002)
S.A. Campbell, H.S. Kim, D.C. Gilmer, B. He, T. Ma, W.L. Gladfelter: IBM J. Res. Dev. 43, 383 (1999)
Z.J. Donhauser, B.A. Mantooth, T.P. Pearl, K.F. Kelly, S.U. Nanayakkara, P.S. Weiss: Jpn. J. Appl. Phys. 41, 4871 (2002)
D.L. Allara, R.G. Nuzzo: Langmuir 1, 45 (1985)
D.L. Allara, R.G. Nuzzo: Langmuir 1, 52 (1985)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
PACS
85.65.+h; 73.40.Rw; 73.50.Gr
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Richter, C., Stewart, D., Ohlberg, D. et al. Electrical characterization of Al/AlOx/molecule/Ti/Al devices. Appl. Phys. A 80, 1355–1362 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-004-3169-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00339-004-3169-x