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Capacitance Behavior of Alkanethiol Self-Assembled Monolayer Studied by Scanning Tunneling Microscope Light Emission Spectroscopy

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Abstract

We have studied the capacitance behavior of alkanethiol self-assembled monolayer (SAM)-covered Au film by scanning tunneling microscope light emission (STM-LE) spectroscopy in the Kretschmann geometry. Although, the STM-LE from tip-sample gap into the vacuum (tip-side emission) is fundamentally weak and very difficult to detect, we have succeeded in detecting the STM-LE radiated into the prism (prism-side emission) by virtue of the enhancement of prism-coupled geometry. Our experimental results shows that the cutoff energy of STM-LE spectra have been redshifted with increase in thickness (chain length) of the SAM film. In order to explain the cutoff energy shift, we have designed a two-layer tunnel junction model by considering the capacitance response of the SAM film depending on the molecular chain length. It has been found from the model analysis, that the capacitance of the SAM changes with changing of the molecular thickness. Hence, it is concluded that the shift of the cutoff energy has originated from the change of the capacitance of the SAM film depending on the molecular chain length.

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Acknowledgments

Part of this work was carried out in the Nano-Photoelectronics Laboratory, Tohoku University, Japan and was supported in part by the Tohoku University Electro-Related Departments Global COE Program. The Authors would like to thank Mr. Tomonori Sanbongi and Wataru Iida for their cooperation and technical assistance.

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  1. Jamal Uddin Ahamed

    Present address: Department of Applied Physics, Electronics and Communication Engineering, University of Chittagong, Chittagong, 4331, Bangladesh

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Institute of Electrical Communication, Tohoku University, Sendai, 980-8577, Japan

    Satoshi Katano & Yoichi Uehara

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  1. Jamal Uddin Ahamed
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  2. Satoshi Katano
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Correspondence to Jamal Uddin Ahamed.

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Ahamed, J.U., Katano, S. & Uehara, Y. Capacitance Behavior of Alkanethiol Self-Assembled Monolayer Studied by Scanning Tunneling Microscope Light Emission Spectroscopy. Trans Indian Inst Met 69, 1579–1585 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12666-015-0733-3

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