2 research outputs found
Impact of Pressure on the Resonant Bonding in Chalcogenides
Resonant
bonding has been appreciated as an important feature in some chalcogenides.
The establishment of resonant bonding can significantly delocalize
the electrons and shrink the band gap, leading to low electrical resistivity
and soft optical phonons. Many materials that exhibit this bonding
mechanism have applications in phase-change memory and thermoelectric
devices. Resonant bonding can be tuned by various means, including
thermal excitations and changes in composition. In this work, we manipulate
it by applying large hydrostatic-like pressure. Synchrotron X-ray
diffraction and density functional theory reveal that the orthorhombic
lattice of GeSe appears to become more symmetric and the Born effective
charge has significantly increased at high pressure, indicating that
resonant bonding has been established in this material. In contrast,
the resonant bonding is partially weakened in PbSe at high pressure
due to the discontinuity of chemical bonds along a certain lattice
direction. By controlling resonant bonding in chalcogenides, we are
able to modify the material properties and tailor them for various
applications in extreme conditions
Dithiocarbamate Self-Assembled Monolayers as Efficient Surface Modifiers for Low Work Function Noble Metals
Tuning
the work function of the electrode is one of the crucial
steps to improve charge extraction in organic electronic devices.
Here, we show that <i>N</i>,<i>N</i>-dialkyl dithiocarbamates
(DTC) can be effectively employed to produce low work function noble
metal electrodes. Work functions between 3.1 and 3.5 eV are observed
for all metals investigated (Cu, Ag, and Au). Ultraviolet photoemission
spectroscopy (UPS) reveals a maximum decrease in work function by
2.1 eV as compared to the bare metal surface. Electronic structure
calculations elucidate how the complex interplay between intrinsic
dipoles and dipoles induced by bond formation generates such large
work function shifts. Subsequently, we quantify the improvement in
contact resistance of organic thin film transistor devices with DTC
coated source and drain electrodes. These findings demonstrate that
DTC molecules can be employed as universal surface modifiers to produce
stable electrodes for electron injection in high performance hybrid
organic optoelectronics