Fabrication of resistively-coupled single-electron device using an array of gold nanoparticles

Negative Differential Resistance and Hysteresis in Self‐Assembled Nanoscale Networks with Tunable Molecule‐to‐Nanoparticle Ratios

“…Another possible explanation for the observed NDR could be resonant tunneling between molecular orbitals and the metal delocalized states, thereby leading to a conduction peak followed by a decrease in the tunneling current for charge carrier energies that are off‐resonance at higher biases . In addition, single‐electron charging effects and Coulomb blockade could also lead to NDR and hysteretic behavior, although these may be less likely for the 30 nm gold particles used in this study. The coupling and conformation of benzenedithiol particularly at larger biases may also alter the observed I – V characteristics and in particular lead to nonlinearities and/or asymmetry .…”

“…NDR and/or hysteresis have been observed using metallic contacts to a molecular monolayer containing nitroamine redox centers, molecular nanowires, and arrays of nanoparticles . Programmability in certain of these array systems can be achieved via applied gate voltage, modifying nanoparticle functionalization, or exposure to light . Previous work in this area has primarily focused on “bulk” film metal nanoparticle–molecular self‐assembled monolayers, i.e., arrays with very large molecule‐to‐nanoparticle ratios (where the molecules form uniform shells around nanoparticle cores).…”

“…[30,31] Programmability in certain of these array systems can be achieved via applied gate voltage, modifying nanoparticle functionalization, or exposure to light. [32][33][34] Previous work in this area has primarily focused on "bulk" film metal nanoparticlemolecular self-assembled monolayers, i.e., arrays with very large molecule-to-nanoparticle ratios (where the molecules form uniform shells around nanoparticle cores). A different approach [35] involves varying the ratio of molecules to nanoparticles in such arrays to effect different molecular network morphologies and allowing, for example, tunable resistance as a function of molecule-nanoparticle ratio for a range of circuit configurations via a solution-based directed self-assembly process.…”

Evaluation of the inter-particle distance of gold nanoparticles dispersed on silane-treated substrates to fabricate dithiol-connected arrays

“…GNP arrays are formed within the gap of electrodes, and single-electron charging effects are observed. [24][25][26] This method is relatively simple. However, the GNPs may move after fabrication since the particles are not chemically fixed on the substrate.…”