Optical Switching of Porphyrin-Coated Silicon Nanowire Field Effect Transistors

• Published in: Nano letters Vol. 7; no. 6; pp. 1454 - 1458
• Main Authors: Winkelmann, Clemens B., Ionica, Irina, Chevalier, Xavier, Royal, Guy, Bucher, Christophe, Bouchiat, Vincent
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 01-06-2007
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Condensed Matter; Cross-disciplinary physics: materials science; rheology; Crystallization - methods; Electrochemistry - instrumentation; Electrochemistry - methods; Electronics; Equipment Design; Equipment Failure Analysis; Exact sciences and technology; Macromolecular Substances - chemistry; Materials science; Materials Testing; Mesoscopic Systems and Quantum Hall Effect; Molecular Conformation; Molecular electronics, nanoelectronics; Nanoscale materials and structures: fabrication and characterization; Nanotechnology - methods; Nanotubes; Nanotubes - chemistry; Nanotubes - ultrastructure; Optics and Photonics - instrumentation; Particle Size; Physics; Porphyrins - chemistry; Quantum wires; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Signal Processing, Computer-Assisted - instrumentation; Silicon - chemistry; Surface Properties; Transistors; Transistors, Electronic; Voltage dependence; Semiconductor materials; Field effect transistors; Tunnel effect; Carbon nanotubes; Switching; Nanoelectronics; Optical switching; Illumination; Silicon; Nanowires; Nanostructured materials; Gates; Porphyrins
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/nl0630485

We study porphyrin derivative coated silicon nanowire field effect transistors (SiNW-FETs), which display a large, stable, and reproducible conductance increase upon illumination. The efficiency and the kinetics of the optical switching are studied as a function of gate voltage, illumination wavelength, and temperature. The decay kinetics from the high- to the low-conductance state is governed by charge recombination via tunneling, with a rate depending on the state of the SiNW-FET. The comparison to porphyrin-sensitized carbon nanotube FETs allows the environment- and molecule-dependent photoconversion process to be distinguished from the charge-to-current transducing effect of the semiconducting channel.