Switching charge states in quasi-2D molecular conductors

Yulong Huang; Travis Mitchell; Yixiong Zheng; Yong Hu; Jason B Benedict; Jung-Hun Seo; Shenqiang Ren

doi:10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac089

Switching charge states in quasi-2D molecular conductors

PNAS Nexus. 2022 Jun 13;1(3):pgac089. doi: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgac089. eCollection 2022 Jul.

Authors

Yulong Huang¹, Travis Mitchell², Yixiong Zheng³, Yong Hu¹, Jason B Benedict², Jung-Hun Seo³, Shenqiang Ren^{1

2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA.
² Department of Chemistry, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA.
³ Department of Materials Design and Innovation, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA.
⁴ Research and Education in energy, Environment and Water (RENEW) Institute, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA.

Abstract

2D molecular entities build next-generation electronic devices, where abundant elements of organic molecules are attractive due to the modern synthetic and stimuli control through chemical, conformational, and electronic modifications in electronics. Despite its promising potential, the insufficient control over charge states and electronic stabilities must be overcome in molecular electronic devices. Here, we show the reversible switching of modulated charge states in an exfoliatable 2D-layered molecular conductor based on bis(ethylenedithio)tetrathiafulvalene molecular dimers. The multiple stimuli application of cooling rate, current, voltage, and laser irradiation in a concurrent manner facilitates the controllable manipulation of charge crystal, glass, liquid, and metal phases. The four orders of magnitude switching of electric resistance are triggered by stimuli-responsive charge distribution among molecular dimers. The tunable charge transport in 2D molecular conductors reveals the kinetic process of charge configurations under stimuli, promising to add electric functions in molecular circuitry.

Keywords: 2D; charge states; molecular conductors; phase control; stimuli-responsive.