Engineering the Electron Transport of Silicon-Based Molecular Electronic Devices via Molecular Dipoles

We demonstrate that charge transport through a CMOS-compatible molecular electronic device is dominated by one of two different transport regimes depending on the dipole of the molecular monolayer in the junction, doping level of the silicon substrate, and bias applied to the device. The two observed transport regimes are (1) a regime where the transport is limited by the Schottky barrier and the molecular dipole results in silicon band-bending at the junction interface and (2) a tunneling regime where the molecular dipole creates a small local electric field that screens the electrical transport.