Research Seminar “Electronic Properties of Monolayers at Interfaces: 2D Materials and Self-Assembled Monolayers”

Presenter: Dr. Jérôme Cornil, Université de Mons, FNRS (National Fund for Scientific Research) Research Director, Mons, Belgium

Abstract: The discovery of graphene has triggered the development of a vast family of 2D materials, opening the way to vertical electronic devices obtained by stacking individual layers with different electronic properties. A central question here is to assess whether the electronic characteristics of a given 2D material are retained when interfaced to another component. We will show by means of DFT calculations that stacked 2D materials exhibit strong hybridization effects affecting quite significantly the band edge alignment; in the presence of a doped layer, the injected charges can even be transferred to the adjacent material when building the stack. In the second part, we will review our recent work in the field of molecular electronics aiming at sandwiching self-assembled monolayers between two metallic electrodes to generate functional nanoscale devices. In particular, we will analyze the potential of molecular junctions for thermoelectric applications and will introduce ferromagnetic contacts to manipulate spin-polarized currents.

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Bio Sketch: Jérôme Cornil received a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Mons-Hainaut (Belgium) in 1996 under the supervision of Jean-Luc Brédas. After postdoctoral stays at the University of California at Santa Barbara (with A.J. Heeger) and at MIT (with R.J. Silbey), he obtained a permanent position at the University of Mons as a Senior Researcher of the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research (FNRS) in 2000. He is now an FNRS Research Director. His research interests mostly deal with the theoretical characterization at the atomistic level of the structural and electronic properties of organic and hybrid materials in their bulk or at interfaces in relation to their use in energy applications.