journal article·2008-07Open access

Metallic conduction at organic charge-transfer interfaces

Helena Alves, Anna S. Molinari, Hangxing Xie, Alberto F. Morpurgo

Nature Materials· Volume 7· Issue 7

Abstract

The electronic properties of interfaces between two different solids can differ strikingly from those of the constituent materials. For instance, metallic conductivity-and even superconductivity-have recently been discovered at interfaces formed by insulating transition-metal oxides. Here, we investigate interfaces between crystals of conjugated organic molecules, which are large-gap undoped semiconductors, that is, essentially insulators. We find that highly conducting interfaces can be realized with resistivity ranging from 1 to 30 kohms per square, and that, for the best samples, the temperature dependence of the conductivity is metallic. The observed electrical conduction originates from a large transfer of charge between the two crystals that takes place at the interface, on a molecular scale. As the interface assembly process is simple and can be applied to crystals of virtually any conjugated molecule, the conducting interfaces described here represent the first examples of a new class of electronic systems.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Electronic and Structural Properties of Oxides · Machine Learning in Materials Science · Electrochemical Analysis and Applications

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