Letter abstract
Nature Nanotechnology 2, 687 - 691 (2007)
Published online: 28 October 2007 | doi:10.1038/nnano.2007.346
Subject Categories: Nanomaterials | Surface patterning and imaging
Nano-architectures by covalent assembly of molecular building blocks
Leonhard Grill1, Matthew Dyer2, Leif Lafferentz1, Mats Persson2, Maike V. Peters3 & Stefan Hecht3
Abstract
The construction of electronic devices from single molecular building blocks, which possess certain functions such as switching or rectifying and are connected by atomic-scale wires on a supporting surface, is an essential goal of molecular electronics1. A key challenge is the controlled assembly of molecules into desired architectures by strong, that is, covalent, intermolecular connections2, enabling efficient electron transport3 between the molecules and providing high stability4. However, no molecular networks on surfaces 'locked' by covalent interactions have been reported so far. Here, we show that such covalently bound molecular nanostructures can be formed on a gold surface upon thermal activation of porphyrin building blocks and their subsequent chemical reaction at predefined connection points. We demonstrate that the topology of these nanostructures can be precisely engineered by controlling the chemical structure of the building blocks. Our results represent a versatile route for future bottom-up construction of sophisticated electronic circuits and devices, based on individual functionalized molecules.
- Institut für Experimentalphysik, Freie Universität Berlin, Arnimallee 14, 14195 Berlin, Germany
- Surface Science Research Centre and Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX, UK
- Institut für Chemie, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Brook-Taylor-Str. 2, 12489 Berlin, Germany
Correspondence to: Leonhard Grill1 e-mail: leonhard.grill@physik.fu-berlin.de
Correspondence to: Stefan Hecht3 e-mail: sh@chemie.hu-berlin.de
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