Nanoscale Conducting Channels at the Surface of Organic Semiconductors Formed by Decoration of Molecular Steps with Self-Assembled Molecules

Under certain conditions, self-assembling molecules preferentially bind to molecular steps at the surface of crystalline organic semiconductors, inducing a strong local doping effect. This creates macroscopically long conducting paths of nanoscale width (a single crystalline analogue of organic nanowires) that can span distances of up to 1 cm between electrical contacts. The observed effect of molecular step decoration opens intriguing possibilities for visualization, passivation, and selective doping of surface and interfacial defects in organic electronic devices and provides a novel system for research on nanoscale charge transport in organic semiconductors. In addition, this effect sheds light on the microscopic origin of nucleation and growth of self-assembled monolayers at organic surfaces. It can also have implications in electronic patterning, nanoscale chemical sensors, integrated interconnects and charge-transfer interface in organic transistors and solar cells.