Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

The development of new technologies depends critically on the ability to control materials properties in new and exciting ways. Modern trends towards miniaturization and efficiency, as well as (for example) emerging societal demands for clean energy and efficient energy storage, have revealed the need for new materials that can enable next-generation technologies with improved performance. A promising solution to this demand for smaller devices is to shift to a “bottom-up” perspective, where molecular building blocks are assembled into functional nanostructured materials. A significant advantage of this approach is that the smallest feature size that can be obtained depends mainly on the size of the building blocks. Advancing these bottom-up methods requires an improved understanding of the interactions driving the organization of the molecular components, which falls within the field of supramolecular chemistry and more recently, “on-surface reactions”. ***The scanning tunnelling microscope (STM) can acquire images of individual molecules adsorbed on a conducting surface, making it an invaluable tool to investigate molecular organization and reaction. Combining STM with other surface analysis tools, the NanoFemtoLab has obtained essential insights into molecular interactions and on-surface reactions, and in particular recently synthesized 2D conjugated polymers, also termed “organic analogues of graphene”, of record-breaking order and domain size. To extend this cutting-edge research, we propose to tailor the electronic properties of these well-ordered 2D polymers by combining multiple building blocks. In parallel, to move this work towards application, we are studying the transfer of these polymers to semiconductors to enable their incorporation in electronic devices. ***The motivation for this proposal is to acquire key equipment that will allow us to undertake a systematic investigation of structure/property relationships in 2D polymers. First of all, to carry out these time-sensitive projects, we urgently require a replacement for failed components of a fifteen year old STM that is a crucial part of our research infrastructure. In addition to this crucial repair, we seek to upgrade this system to perform “Video-STM” (up to 100 Hz), unique in Canada, that would be capable of studying rapid processes at surfaces such as diffusion, self-assembly and reactions with the exceptional spatial resolution of STM. Specifically, we propose to investigate the dynamics of surface-polymerization by imaging the precursors, intermediates and products throughout the reaction. **