December 10, 2014

Theory details how ‘hot’ monomers affect thin-film formation



Rice, Maryland model offers better control for creation of thin-film electronics

Like a baseball player sliding into third, a hot monomer skids in a straight line along a cold surface until it’s safely among its fellow molecules.

This is not what usually happens when scientists assemble monomers to make thin films for next-generation electronics, but the details remained a puzzle until a team led by Rice University got involved. Monomers are organic molecules that, in this application, form clusters and eventually complete layers.