Electrical characterization of redox-active molecular monolayers on SiO2 for memory applications

Abstract

Hybrid silicon capacitors have been successfully fabricated by attaching monolayers of redox-active molecules via self-assembly to ultrathin silicon dioxide layers. Capacitance, conductance, and cyclic voltammetric measurements have been used to characterize these capacitors. The presence of distinct capacitance and conductance peaks associated with oxidation and reduction of the monolayers at low gate voltages indicates discrete electron storage states for these capacitors, suggesting their feasibility in memory devices. The inherent molecular scalability and low-power operation coupled with existing silicon technology support the approach of hybrid molecule-silicon devices as a strong candidate for next generation electronic devices.