| Hexadecylquinolinium tricyanoquinodimethanide was measured to be a unimolecular electrical rectifier, as a Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) monolayer between oxide-free gold electrodes. The top gold electrode was deposited by the “cold-gold” evaporation technique. The electrodes and orientation of the molecules in the LB monolayer were extensively characterized.{09}The asymmetric placement of the electroactive part of the molecule with respect to the two electrodes and the work-function change of the electrode closer to the electroactive part play an important role in the electrical rectification. Results of spectroscopic studies and current-voltage measurements on two molecules, which can form self-assembled monolayers (SAMs), are presented. Size-controllable ordered nanoporous structures were made on the barrier layer of anodized hexagonally ordered nanoporous aluminum oxide by grazing angle Ar+ ion milling. Some effort towards fabricating planar two-terminal and three-terminal electrodes was carried out using a carbon nanotube as a contact mask. |
