Microscopy of Functional Molecules

功能分子的显微镜检查

• 批准号: RGPIN-2015-06085
• 负责人: McLean, Alastair
• 金额: $ 2.04万
• 依托单位: Queen's University
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2016
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2016-01-01 至 2017-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=613934
• 关键词: Microscopy; Functional; Molecules

Organic electronic materials are carbon-rich compounds with a composition and structure that is tailored to optimize a particular functional property such as charge mobility, photoconductivity or luminescence/phosphorescence. Because the manufacturing and processing costs of organic materials are low, and they can be deposited on low cost (flexible) substrates, organic thin films are now important parts of many commercial products, the most notable being the high efficiency, bright and colorful displays that have appeared on mobile phones and tablets. There is also significant research effort to develop stable thin-film transistors and photovoltaic devices for low cost energy generation with this technology.   Despite the recent commercial success of organic thin-film electronics, grand challenges remain to be solved before the full potential of molecule-based electronics can be realized. To fulfill this vision of using inexpensive, atomically precise molecules in electronic devices or as devices, new ways of measuring and controlling the functional properties of molecules embedded in a solid state device or sensor are required. This is because the properties of single molecule devices depend, crucially, on every detail of the molecule’s configuration, including the contact to the solid state host.      In the last five years, there have been dramatic improvements in the capabilities of scanning probes that have important implications for the study of molecules at surfaces. These include the ability to: measure electroluminescence from molecules with sub-molecular resolution, clearly resolve single covalent bonds between carbon atoms, discriminate the bond order of covalent bonds, and probe the charge distribution within single molecules. Some of these advances depend upon the ability to create atomically precise tips with 'probe' particles (CO or Xe). Others depend on the stability afforded by quartz cantilevers (qPlus sensors). In this proposal, we seek to address the grand challenges of molecule-based electronics by exploiting these new capabilities. Our long term goal is atomic-level control of the organic-inorganic interface. As a step towards this, we will measure and manipulate the functional properties of molecules at surfaces and investigate a new way of attaching molecules to metal surfaces using n-heterocyclic carbenes.  The research program is international, multidisciplinary and collaborative. It involves Chemists, who will synthesize molecules, three theoretical groups, who will perform first principles calculations, and three experimental groups, who possess complementary expertise to my group at Queen's. Canadian graduate students will work closely with theorists and travel to our experimental collaborators to take advantage of scanning probe microscopes that operate at low temperature (1 K), at high magnetic field (8 T) and with light detection.

有机电子材料是富含碳的化合物，其成分和结构是为优化特定功能特性（例如电荷迁移率，光电导率或发光/磷光）而定制的。由于有机材料的制造和加工成本较低，并且可以以低成本（柔性）底物沉积，因此有机薄膜现在已成为许多商业产品的重要部分，最值得注意的是在移动电话和平板电脑上出现的高效率，明亮而多彩的显示器。还有大量的研究工作，可以开发稳定的薄膜晶体管和光伏设备，以通过这项技术为低成本能源产生。   尽管有机薄膜电子产品最近获得了商业上的成功，但在实现基于分子的电子产品的全部潜力之前，巨大的挑战仍有待解决。为了实现在电子设备或设备中使用廉价的原子精确分子的愿景，需要在固态设备或传感器中测量和控制分子的功能特性的新方法。这是因为单分子设备的特性完全取决于分子构型的每个细节，包括与固态宿主的接触。     在过去的五年中，扫描问题的能力有了显着改善，这些功能对研究表面的分子的研究具有重要意义。其中包括：从具有亚分子分辨率的分子中测量电致发光的能力，清楚地解析碳原子之间的单个共价键，区分共价键的键顺序，并探测单分子内的电荷分布。其中一些进步取决于用“探针”颗粒（CO或XE）创建原子精确的尖端的能力。其他人则取决于石英悬臂（QPLUS传感器）提供的稳定性。 在此提案中，我们试图通过利用新功能来应对基于分子的电子产品的巨大挑战。我们的长期目标是对有机无机界面的原子级控制。作为迈出的一步，我们将测量和操纵分子在表面上的功能特性，并研究一种使用N-杂环碳纤维将分子连接到金属表面上的新方法。该研究计划是国际，多学科和协作的。它涉及化学家，他们将综合分子，三个理论组，他们将执行第一原则计算，以及三个实验组，他们将执行第一原则计算，并且在女王的小组中拥有完整的专家专业知识。加拿大研究生将与理论家紧密合作，并前往我们的实验合作者，以利用在低温（1 K），高磁场（8 T）和光检测下运行的扫描探针显微镜。