Author (Your Name)

Emily Reith, Colby College

Date of Award

1998

Document Type

Honors Thesis (Colby Access Only)

Department

Colby College. Chemistry Dept.

Advisor(s)

Andrea E. Dorigo

Second Advisor

Shelby F. Nelson

Third Advisor

Thomas W. Shattuck

Abstract

This work explored the electronic propenies of pentacene at the molecular level. Transistors made from thin films of pentacene have shown promise for large area electronic applications, such as liquid crystal displays. The mechanism for charge transport in pentaeene, which is a p-type semiconductor, is not yet fully understood. Investigations into this question were carried out using AMI semi-empirical calculations, which included studies of electron density distributions of molecules and their radical cations. In these calculations, the geometry of one molecule of penueene was first optimized. Next, a molecule of the radical cation of pentacene was placed at a set distance from the neutral molecule, and the dependence of the electronic delocalization on the dimer symmetry was calculated. In addition, charge transfer mechanisms were investigated between other molecules having different substituents at various positions on the penueene rings. These systems may also exhibit favorable conductive properties.

Comments

Full-text download restricted to Colby College campus only.

Keywords

pentacene, molecules, electron density distributions

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