Advancing conjugated polymers into nanometer-scale devices

Hu, Wenping; Nakashima, Hiroshi; Wang, Erjing; Furukawa, Kazuaki; Li, Hongxiang; Luo, Yi; Shuai, Zhigang; Kashimura, Yoshiaki; Liu, Yunqi; Torimitsu, Keiichi

doi:10.1351/pac200678101803

Pure Appl. Chem., 2006, Vol. 78, No. 10, pp. 1803-1822

http://dx.doi.org/10.1351/pac200678101803

Advancing conjugated polymers into nanometer-scale devices

Wenping Hu¹, Hiroshi Nakashima², Erjing Wang^1,3, Kazuaki Furukawa², Hongxiang Li¹, Yi Luo⁴, Zhigang Shuai¹, Yoshiaki Kashimura², Yunqi Liu¹ and Keiichi Torimitsu²

¹ Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100080, China
² NTT Basic Research Laboratories, NTT Corporation, 3-1 Morinosato Wakamiya, Atsugi, Kanagawa 243-0198, Japan
³ Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, China
⁴ Theoretical 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.