Long-Range Electron Transport of Ruthenium-Centered Multilayer Films via a Stepping-Stone Mechanism

We studied electron transport of Ru complex multilayer films, whose structure resembles redox-active complex films known in the literature to have long-range electron transport abilities. Hydrogen bond formation in terms of pH control was used to induce spontaneous growth of a Ru complex multilayer....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:ACS nano 2012-03, Vol.6 (3), p.1988-1999
Main Authors: Terada, Kei-ichi, Nakamura, Hisao, Kanaizuka, Katsuhiko, Haga, Masa-aki, Asai, Yoshihiro, Ishida, Takao
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Band theory
Conductance
Electrochemistry
Electron Transport
Formations
Hydrogen bonds
Models, Molecular
Molecular Conformation
Multilayers
Nanostructure
Pinholes
Resonant tunneling
Ruthenium - chemistry
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Summary:We studied electron transport of Ru complex multilayer films, whose structure resembles redox-active complex films known in the literature to have long-range electron transport abilities. Hydrogen bond formation in terms of pH control was used to induce spontaneous growth of a Ru complex multilayer. We made a cross-check between electrochemical measurements and I–V measurements using PEDOT:PSS to eliminate the risk of pinhole contributions to the mechanism and have found small β values of 0.012–0.021 Å–1. Our Ru complex layers exhibit long-range electron transport but with low conductance. On the basis of the results of our theoretical–experimental collaboration, we propose a modified tunneling mechanism named the “stepping-stone mechanism”, where the alignment of site potentials forms a narrow band around E F, making resonant tunneling possible. Our observations may support Tuccito et al.’s proposed mechanism.
ISSN:1936-0851
1936-086X
DOI:10.1021/nn300126m