Molecular conductors thin films

Some transition metal complexes are excellent conductors. Thin films of cyto-chrome-C3, which contains four heme moieties coordinated by protein, exhibited a high conductivity with mixed valence state (Fe /Fe ) and showed an increase in conductivity as the temperature was decreased (2 x 10 S cm at 268 K) [68-70]. The temperature dependence of conductivity in the highly conductive region is the opposite of that of semiconductors and may preclude the ionic conduction as a dominant contribution. However, since the high conductivity is realized in the presence of hydrogenase and hydrogen, the system is not strictly a single but rather a multicomponent molecular solid. 

The use of DNA molecules as wires in electronic systems may open a new opportunity in nanoelectronics. DNA has the appropriate molecular recognition features and well-characterized self-assembly. There is evidence to suggest that DNA is only a marginally better electron conductor than proteins [116-118], As a result, many studies have focused on various methods of DNA modification leading to improvement in its conductive properties. It is possible to enhance the conductivity of DNA by coating it with a thin film of metal atoms, but the molecular recognition properties of the DNA are then destroyed. An effective approach to this problem is the incorporation of metal ions into the DNA double helix [118-121], Preliminary results suggest that a metal ion-DNA complex may be a much better conductor than B-DNA, because the former shows a metallic conduction whereas the latter behaves like a wide-band gap semiconductor [118]. 

As the previous section showed, in a variety of examples severe enhancements of the ionic conductivity has been found and successfully attributed to space charge effects. Typical examples are silver halides or alkaline earth fluorides (see Section V.2.). How significantly these effects can be augmented by a particle size reduction, is demonstrated by the example of nano-crystalline CaF2.154 Epitaxial fluoride heterolayers prepared by molecular beam epitaxy not only show the thermodynamically demanded redistribution effect postulated above (see Section V.2.), they also highlight the mesoscopic situation in extremely thin films in which the electroneutral bulk has disappeared and an artificial ion conductor has been achieved (see Fig. 

According to Schulze, valve action differs from the related phenomenon of passivity in that in the former case the oxide skin, although very thin, is of definite thickness4 and prevents the passage of the current, whereas in the latter case the oxide film is an electrical conductor of molecular thickness.5... 

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