Role of organic molecules in enabling modern technology

Abstract

The adsorption of organic molecules on surfaces has played an important role in the development of key technologies available today. These molecules provide unique functionalities and properties to the surface that will not exist otherwise. This article will focus on identifying the role of small organic molecules in applications related to energy, sensing, and electronics. Specifically, the authors explore the use of these molecules in improving biocompatibility, stability, conductivity, and passivation properties of surfaces. The authors aim to provide an understanding of how organic molecules have enabled and promoted modern technologies, and to elucidate the connection that exists between fundamental understanding of molecular adsorption and current applications.

Reaction Behaviors of S‐, O‐, and N‐containing Aliphatic Molecules with a Propyl Moiety on Ge(100) Surface

“…The organic functionalization of group IV (100) semiconductor surfaces is a powerful method to impart desirable properties to semiconductor surfaces and can yield a hybrid organic-semiconductor system with custom-designed properties. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] To successfully construct such hybrid systems by precise interface control through the covalent bond between adsorbate and surface, an in-depth understanding at the molecular level of the reaction behaviors of organic molecules, containing different functional groups, on (100) semiconductor surfaces should be prioritized.…”

Thermally Activated Reactions of Phenol at the Ge(100)-2 × 1 Surface

“…With shrinking critical dimensions of electronic devices to the nanometer scale, there has been continuing research interest on utilization of germanium (Ge) as a next-generation semiconductor material, inspired by its advantageous material properties such as higher carrier mobility and lower dopant activation temperature than those of Si. − Still, challenges remain toward integration of Ge into microelectronics fabrication, such as engineering of the dielectric–semiconductor interface with sufficient reliability. On the other hand, organic functionalization of semiconductor surfaces is a scheme to combine established knowledge of inorganic semiconductor processing techniques with the tailorability of organic molecules, , with potential applications such as nanoscale patterning, molecular electronics, and chemical and biological sensors. Functionalization of semiconductors has been studied on a variety of surfaces, with a specific focus on the (2 × 1) reconstructed (100) surfaces of Ge and Si that exhibit “dimer” moieties with chemical properties of both a zwitterion and a double bond…”

Effect of Heteroaromaticity on Adsorption of Pyrazine on the Ge(100)-2×1 Surface

“…Adsorption of organic molecules onto semiconductor surfaces has been a topic of interest in the scientific community for many years now. − The ability to tune the surface properties at the molecular level can enable applications in the area of biosensors, , microelectronics, , batteries, and organic thin-film growth. − Many of these devices use silicon or germanium as the substrate because of their interesting electronic properties. As a result, most fundamental studies are focused on the group 14 semiconductor (100) crystal surfaces, which, under proper preparation, form surface dimers that act as the fundamental reactive unit of the surface. − …”

“…Adsorption of the molecule through a specific reaction pathway is of importance to a number of emerging applications, such as surface passivation and area selective growth for microelectronic devices. ,− For example, molecules that adsorb through multiple reaction pathways or leave unreactive surface sites are nonideal for these purposes because they could lead to unwanted deposition of other species. However, molecules that adsorb by leaving available functional groups could serve other purposes such as coadsorbents or catalysts . In the case of pyrazine on Ge(100)-2×1, many reaction pathways are possible.…”

“…However, molecules that adsorb by leaving available functional groups could serve other purposes such as coadsorbents or catalysts. 5 In the case of pyrazine on Ge(100)-2×1, many reaction pathways are possible. The dimers at the germanium surface are known to show buckling toward a c(4 × 2) reconstruction which creates a nucleophilic and an electrophilic Ge atomdesignated as "Ge(−)" and "Ge(+)" in Figure 1.…”