HESPERUS · Hierarchical self-assembly of electroactive supramolecular systems on pRe-patterned surfaces: multifunctional architectures for organic FETs

HESPERUS aims at enabling cross-disciplinary training and research at the interface between Electrical Engineering, Supramolecular Chemistry, Materials- and Nano-Science and Physics. The overall goal of HESPERUS is to generate new scientific and technological knowledge by combining supramolecularly engineered nanostructures (SENs), mostly based on organic semiconductors, with tailor-made interfaces to textured solid substrates and electrodes, for fabricating prototypes of two-terminal devices (supramolecular wires) and three-terminal devices (field-effect transistors). The training and research objectives of HESPERUS are: 1. Surface texturing: derivatization of electrically conductive solid substrates and metallic nanostructures to achieve a full control over the surface work-function, wettability and adhesion, thus ultimately to be able to tune the self-assembly of electroactive molecules at surfaces into pre-programmed supramolecular assemblies. 2. Hierarchical self-organization on textured surface of multifunctional SENs based on electrically/optically active functionalized carbon-based (I) 2D nano-objects such as n- and p-type discotics (perylenediimide and hexabenzocoronene derivatives) and (II) polymeric multichromophoric architectures at surfaces on the functionalized substrates. 3. Nanochemistry and nanoprobes: Scanning probes (AFM, STM, KPFM, C-AFM) quantitative time and space resolved characterization of various physico chemical properties of SENs, in particular correlation between structural and electronic properties. 4. Fabrication of supramolecular wires and transistors: Measurement of charge mobility in SENs two- and three-terminal devices varying systematically the wire’s (1) chemical composition, (2) conformation, (3) length and (4) doping.