Advancing conjugated polymers into nanometer-scale devices*
Wenping Hu1, Hiroshi Nakashima2, Erjing Wang1,3, Kazuaki Furukawa2, Hongxiang Li1, Yi Luo4, Zhigang Shuai1, Yoshiaki Kashimura2, Yunqi Liu1, and Keiichi Torimitsu2
1Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China; 2NTT Basic Research Laboratories, NTT Corporation, 3-1 Morinosato Wakamiya, Atsugi, Kanagawa 243-0198, Japan; 3Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, China; 4Theoretical Chemistry, Royal Institute of Technology, AlbaNova, S-106 91 Stockholm, Sweden
Abstract: In this article, we review the possibility of combining conjugated polymers with nanometer-scale devices (nanodevices), in order to introduce the properties associated with conjugated polymers into such nanodevices. This approach envisages combining the highly topical disciplines of polymer electronics and nanoelectronics to engender a new subdirection of polymer nanoelectronics, which can serve as a tool to probe the behavior of polymer molecules at the nanometer/molecular level, and contribute to clarifying transport mechanisms in conjugated polymers. In this study, we exemplify this combination, using a family of linear and conjugated polymers, poly(p-phenylene-ethynylene)s (PPEs) with thiolacetate-functionalized end groups.
Keywords: polymers; nanometer-scale devices; nanodevices; conjugation; quantum.
*Paper based on a presentation at the 15th International Symposium on Fine Chemistry and Functional Polymers (FCFP-XV) and the 1st International Symposium on Novel Materials and Synthesis (NMS-I), 17-20 October 2005, Shanghai, China. Other presentations are published in this issue, pp. 1803-1896.