Organic nanostructure formation on silicon surfaces: insights into tuning organic reactions and surface properties (Department of Chemistry Seminar) - Gino A. DiLabio

The modification of surfaces with organic molecules is one technique for incorporating new functionality into semiconductors. Organic molecules are attractive from this perspective because almost any property of a molecule can be altered through synthesis, and these properties can be used to “tune” the properties of a surface. Alternatively, the properties of a surface can be used to “tune” the kind of chemistry that can occur on a semiconductor surface. In this presentation, I describe how we use quantum mechanical simulations and scanning tunneling microscopy to understand processes leading to the formation of one- and two-dimensional organic nanostructures on silicon. Specific examples of molecular modification of surface properties and of surface modification of chemical mechanisms will be discussed.