Issue 4, 2019

Lanthanide complexes as molecular dopants for realizing air-stable n-type graphene logic inverters with symmetric transconductance

Abstract

An unprecedented air-stable, n-doped graphene field-effect transistor (GFET) with exceptionally enhanced mobility (500%), and concomitantly increased current density (∼105 A cm−2), using lanthanide macrocyclic complexes [Ln(L1)(NO3)3] (where Ln = La (1) or Ce (2)) is demonstrated. Such n-doped GFETs (n-GFETs) exhibit ambient stability for up to 7200 h, attributed to the inherent robustness of 1 and 2. Achieving stable and symmetric n-GFETs is mutually exclusive and elusive, underlining the significance of both high stability and symmetric electron- and hole-currents illustrated here. Interestingly, the influence of C–H⋯π interaction for the non-covalent charge-transfer between the dopant and GFET is established experimentally for the first time and strongly corroborated through computational investigations. Besides stabilizing n-doped GFETs, the C–H⋯π interaction unravels a previously unknown direction for electronic tuning of graphene. Importantly, spatial selectivity is achieved through sub-monolayer coverage (0.5–3.0 molecules per μm2) of the dopants using the femtojet dispensing route. This approach is synergistically combined with the air-stability of n-GFETs to realise complementary, bottom-gated logic inverters exhibiting the highest gain of 0.275 (at 2 V) and lowest power dissipation (∼30 μW), to realise next-generation molecular electronic devices.

Graphical abstract: Lanthanide complexes as molecular dopants for realizing air-stable n-type graphene logic inverters with symmetric transconductance

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Communication
Submitted
02 Okt. 2018
Accepted
02 Jan. 2019
First published
02 Jan. 2019

Mater. Horiz., 2019,6, 743-750

Lanthanide complexes as molecular dopants for realizing air-stable n-type graphene logic inverters with symmetric transconductance

A. S. Gajarushi, M. Wasim, R. Nabi, S. Kancharlapalli, V. R. Rao, G. Rajaraman, C. Subramaniam and M. Shanmugam, Mater. Horiz., 2019, 6, 743 DOI: 10.1039/C8MH01241E

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