Luis Martinez

Temperature-dependent charge transport mechanisms in carbon sphere/polyaniline composite

Charge transport in the temperature range 80 K < T < 300 K was studied in a composite of carbon spheres (CS), prepared via hydrothermal carbonization of sucrose, and the conducting polymer polyaniline (PANi). PANi was synthesized via the oxidative polymerization of aniline with ammonium peroxydisulfate (APS) in acidic media. The CS/PANi composite was prepared by coating the spheres with a thin polyaniline (PANi) film doped with hydrochloric acid (HCl) in situ during the polymerization process. Temperature dependent conductivity measurements show that three dimensional variable range hopping of electrons between polymeric chains in PANi-filled gaps between CS is the predominant transport mechanism through CS/PANi composites. The high conductivity of the CS/PANi composite makes the material attractive for the fabrication of devices and sensors.

MoS2 based dual input logic AND gate

Crystalline monolayers of CVD MoS2 are used as the active semiconducting channel in a split-gate field effect transistor. The device demonstrates logic AND functionality that is controlled by independently addressing each gate terminal with ±10V. When +10V was simultaneously applied to both gates, the device was conductive (ON), while any other combination of gate voltages rendered the device resistive (OFF). The ON/OFF ratio of the device was ∼ 35 and the charge mobility using silicon nitride as the gate dielectric was 1.2cm2/V-s and 0.1cm2/V-s in the ON and OFF states respectively. Clear discrimination between the two states was observed when a simple circuit containing a load resistor was used to test the device logic AND functionality at 10Hz. One advantage is that split gate technology can reduce the number of devices required in complex circuits, leading to compact electronics and large scale integration based on intrinsic 2-D semiconducting materials.