Metallic conduction at organic charge-transfer interfaces

Nat Mater. 2008 Jul;7(7):574-80. doi: 10.1038/nmat2205. Epub 2008 Jun 15.

Abstract

The electronic properties of interfaces between two different solids can differ strikingly from those of the constituent materials. For instance, metallic conductivity-and even superconductivity-have recently been discovered at interfaces formed by insulating transition-metal oxides. Here, we investigate interfaces between crystals of conjugated organic molecules, which are large-gap undoped semiconductors, that is, essentially insulators. We find that highly conducting interfaces can be realized with resistivity ranging from 1 to 30 kohms per square, and that, for the best samples, the temperature dependence of the conductivity is metallic. The observed electrical conduction originates from a large transfer of charge between the two crystals that takes place at the interface, on a molecular scale. As the interface assembly process is simple and can be applied to crystals of virtually any conjugated molecule, the conducting interfaces described here represent the first examples of a new class of electronic systems.