Berlin 2008 – scientific programme
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DS: Fachverband Dünne Schichten
DS 19: Organic Interfaces (SYSA 6)
DS 19.2: Talk
Wednesday, February 27, 2008, 15:00–15:15, H 2013
Self-Assembled Monolayers of Azo-based molecular switches — Andrei Shaporenko1, Mark Elbing2, Alfred Blaszczyk2, Violetta Ferri3, Christian Grave3, Giuseppina Pace4, Carsten von Hänsich2, Marcel Mayor2,5, Paolo Samorì4, Maria Anita Rampi3, and •Michael Zharnikov1 — 1Angewandte Physikalische Chemie, Universität Heidelberg, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany — 2Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe GmbH, Institute for Nanotechnology, D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany — 3Dipartimento di Chimica, Università di Ferrara, I-44100 Ferrara, Italy — 4Institut de Science et d'Ingénierie Supramoléculaires / CNRS UMR 7006 -Université Louis Pasteur, F-67000 Strasbourg, France — 5Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland
Two conjugated rod-like aromatic azo-compounds differing by molecular conformation (planar vs. twisted) and required free volume (upon assembly) have been synthesized. While the first compound forms tightly packed self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) on coinage metal substrates with a high degree of ordering, the second one packs more loosely giving less ordered films. However, independent of the package density, both compounds show very high yields of photoisomerization in SAMs, which are close to 100%. This result questions the common believe that isomerization in SAMs of azo-compounds can only be achieved efficiently, when enough free volume is available in the monolayer. We conclude that azo units incorporated in rigid molecular rods can be of potential interest in molecular electronic devices for applications such as switchable devices and high density data storage.