Molecular Electronics

1) Introduction, history, overview; 2) fundamentals (electronic structure, chemical bonds, hybridization, organic compounds, polymers); 3) building units of molecular electronics (wires, insulators, diodes); 4) electronic transport (classical transport, band conductivity, tunneling, hopping, charge injection, coupling to contacts, discrete level model, rectification); 5) experimental test systems (scanning probes, break junctions, nanogaps, monolayer junctions); 6) devices and integration (bi-stable switches, basic logic circuits, hybrid electronics); 7) bio-molecular electronics (charge transfer in DNA and proteins); 8) organic electronics (organic thin-film transistors, organic LEDs and photovoltaics)

After successful completion of the module the students understand the most important mechanisms and systems of molecular and bio-molecular electronics; they know fundamentals of combining these concepts into the design of basic circuits, based on molecular devices; They understand the basics of organic thin film transistors and opto-electronic devices.

Students should have passed following modules before taking the course:

- Materials
- Electronic Devices

In addition to classical lecture teaching and individual learning methods of the students an in-depth aquisition of knowledge shall be realized by solving calculation problems; the students get in early contact to current research topics by lab visits.

Following media will be used for teaching purposes:
- Presentations, handout notes, blackboard notes, tablet-PC, lab tours

Nanoelectronics and Information Technology. Advanced Electronic Materials and Novel Devices, R. Waser (Ed.), 3rd Ed., Wiley-VCH (2012)

Introduction to Nanoscience, S.M. Lindsay, Oxford (2010)

Molecular Electronics: An Introduction to Theory and Experiment; Juan Carlos Cuevas / Elke Scheer, World Scientific (2010)
Additional material will be provided on Moodle.

Klausur (60 min.);
Die Klausur setzt sich zusammen aus Rechenaufgaben and Kurzfragen zum gesamten Vorlesungsinhalt; sie dient der Überprüfung des grundlegenden Verständnisses der Mechanismen und Systeme der molekularen und bio-molekularen Elektronik, und der gegenwärtigen Standardtechniken zum Aufbau grundlegender Schaltungen, welche auf derartigen Bauelementen basieren.