University of Surrey - Guildford
Registry
  
 

  
 
Registry > Module Catalogue
View Module List by A.O.U. and Level  Alphabetical Module Code List  Alphabetical Module Title List  Alphabetical Old Short Name List  View Menu 
2010/1 Module Catalogue
 Module Code: EEEM041 Module Title: MOLECULAR ELECTRONICS
Module Provider: Electronic Engineering Short Name: EEM.MCE
Level: M Module Co-ordinator: CURRY RJ Dr (Elec Eng)
Number of credits: 15 Number of ECTS credits: 7.5
 
Module Availability
Autumn Semester
Assessment Pattern
Unit(s) of Assessment
Weighting Towards Module Mark (%)
Weekly exercise sheets
30%
Written Closed-book Examination
70%
Module Overview
This module introduces students to the fundamentals of organic and polymer molecules and their application in single molecule and bulk electronic devices.
Prerequisites/Co-requisites
None
Module Aims
To achieve the learning outcomes described below
Learning Outcomes
By the end of the module students will be expected to be able to:
  • explain the origin of atomic and molecular energy levels;
  • recognise the limitations of models describing molecular energy levels;
  • relate experimentally observed phenomena to the properties of molecules;
  • contrast experimental techniques use to produce and measure single molecule devices;
  • discuss commonly used electronic molecules, polymers and films and their properties;
  • classify liquid crystal materials and illustrate their applications;
  • explain charge transport in molecular/polymer films and how it can be measured;
  • discuss key molecular and polymer devices and explain their operation;
  • critically assess the development and progress of molecular electronics.
Module Content

The following topics will be covered in this course:

1)      electronic configuration of atoms and the periodic table (RJ Curry) 
       -      hydrogen atom and origin of 4 quantum numbers n, l, ml, and spin 
        -     aufbau, Pauli, principle and Hund’s rule (electronic configuration) and period table

 2)      atomic bonding, organic molecules and their properties (RJ Curry) 
        -     Octet ‘rule’ and atomic bonding 
        -     hydrogen molecule bonding and anti-bonding molecular energy levels 
        -     carbon molecules, hybridisation and pi/pi* states 
        -     LCAO and Huckle approximations

 3)      properties of molecular orbitals (RJ Curry) 
        -     optical properties and relation to LCAO theory 
        -     excited/charged states (excitons, polarons etc) 
        -     experimental measurements of these properties

4)       molecular electronics (RJ Curry) 
        -     simple models of molecules and effect of contacts on electronic state 
        -     molecular wires, resistors, diodes, capacitors and transistors 
        -     simple molecular devices and their fabrication and measurement

5)        Functional groups and molecules (RJ Curry) 
        -     electron donating and withdrawing groups 
        -     dipoles

 6)      molecular materials for thin film devices (M Shkunov) 
      -       common electronic molecules and their properties 
      -        thin films deposition techniques and morphology

 7)       characterisation of organic materials and their electronic properties (M Shkunov)           
      -        surface and bulk characterisation techniques 
      -       chemical composition and structure analysis in relation to electronic properties

  8)      liquid crystals and self-assembly techniques for organic electronic devices (M Shkunov) 
       -       fundamentals of liquid crystals and their properties 
       -      self-assembly mechanisms 
       -       applications in devices and measurements of characteristics

9)      electronic properties of molecular/polymer thin films (M Shkunov) 
       -       effects of morphology and charge transport mechanisms 
       -        experimental methods for measuring charge mobility 
       -        organic field–effect transistors

10)  bulk organic and polymer devices (M Shkunov) 
       -      charge injection, Fermi level alignment, and heterojunctions 
       -      Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs) and lasers 
       -       RFID, FETs, e-paper, OPV devices 
       -       Challenges for molecular electronics

 

 

 
Methods of Teaching/Learning
3 one hour lectures each week (10 weeks in total)
Selected Texts/Journals

Wider reading using library and internet resources will be required including research articles provided during course.

Bruice P.Y. ‘Organic Chemistry’ Prentice Hall International, London , 1998 (Library shelfmark 547/BRU).

Waser. R. (ed) Nanotelectronics and Information Technology: Advanced Electronic Materials and Novel Devices (Wiley-VCH, Wwinheim, 2003) provides an overview of some of the key concepts covered.
Last Updated

30 July 2009