Associate Professor (b. 1957)
A.B., Dartmouth College, 1978; Ph.D.,
Stanford University, 1983
Postdoctoral Fellow, University of North
Carolina, 1983-84; Camille and Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar,
1993
Physical Chemistry
650-725-1751
chidsey@stanford.edu
The Chidsey group research interest is to build the chemical base for molecular electronics. To accomplish this, we synthesize the molecular and nanoscopic systems, build the analytial tools and develop the theoretical understanding with which to study electron transfer between electrodes and among redox species through insulating molecular bridges. Members of the group have synthesized several series of saturated and conjugated oligomers with which we have studied the fundamental aspects of electron tunneling through well-defined molecular bridges. The oligophenylenevinylene bridge of these molecules promotes rapid tunneling over remarkably long distances compared with other unsaturated and saturated bridges we have studied. For instance, starting in the activated complex, the tunneling rate between a gold electrode and an appended ferrocene through 3.5nm of an oligophenylenevinylene (OPV) bridge is 8 x 10 9 s-1 whereas the tunneling rate through an alkane bridge of the same length is expected to be slower than 1s -1.
To date our electron-tunneling studies have largely focused on what we casually denote as a "one-electrode" measurement with the molecular bridge connecting one electrode to a redox species which acts as a molecular capacitor to an ionically conducting solution. The other electrodes necessary to measure the tunneling conduction are remotely located in an electrochemical cell. We are currently embarked on a broad based effort to make conduction measurements with two electrodes, one on each end of a single molecule. We are also developing strategies to include one or more additional electrodes so that molecular circuits with electrical power gain can be assembled. This effort is leading us to develop nanostructured wiring schemes and self-assembly methods for the construction of whole circuits of wired molecules. We will be examining nanowires formed from doped silicon and other substances. This emerging effort in nanowiring will be greatly aided by the previous work in the Chidsey lab on the surface chemistry of silicon, particularly the self-assembly of complex molecular monolayers on silicon surfaces.
1 "Rapid Electron Tunneling Through Oligophenylenevinylene Bridges", H.D. Sikes, J.F. Smalley, S.P. Dudek, A.R. Cook, M.D. Newton, C.E.D. Chidsey and S.W. Feldberg, Science, 291, 1519-1523 (2001).
2 "Synthesis of Ferrocene Thiols Containing Oligo (phenylenevinylene) Bridges and their Characterization on Gold Electrodes", S.P. Dudek, H.D. Sikes and C.E.D. Chidsey, J. Am. Chem. Soc., ASAP (2001).
3 "Photoreactivity of Unsaturated Compounds with Hydrogen-Terminated Silicon (111)", R.L. Cicero, M.R. Linford and C.E.D. Chidsey, Langmuir, 16, 5688-5695 (2000).
4 "Determination of the Bonding of Alkyl Monolayers to the Si (111) surface Using Chemical-Shift, Scanned-Energy Photoelectron Diffraction", J. terry, M.R. Linford, C. Wigren, R. Cao, P. Pianetta and C.E.D. Chidsey, Appl. Phys. Lett, 71, 1056-1058 (1997).
5 "Rates of Interfacial Electron Transfer Rates Through Pi-Conjugated Spacers," S.B. Sachs, S.P. Dudek, R.P. Hsung, L.R. Sita, J.F. Smalley, M.D. Newton, S.W. Feldberg, and C.E.D. Chidsey, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 119, 10563-10564 (1997).