The reaction of the Si(001) surface with unsaturated organic molecules via a 2+2 cycloaddition is studied in this research project supported by the Analytical and Surface Chemistry Program. Professor Hamers and his students at the University of Wisconsin will study ordered organic films formed by this route using scanning probe microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. These organic films can be derivatized, and functional strategies developed to form overlayers with specific electronic and optical properties. The chemical and structural properties of these films are correlated with the possibility of interesting electrical and optical properties. The spatially dependent probes used to characterize these overlayers allow the determination of the spatial anisotropy which is expected to arise. The adsorption of unsaturated organic molecules on the silicon surface forms the focus of the research supported in this project. The ability to develop a flexible synthetic chemistry for organic films on silicon promises to allow the connection of silicon process technology for electronic devices with the broad range of properties possible with organic overlayers. A range of spatially dependent methods will be used to characterize the structure and properties of these synthesized overlayers.
