STRONG 2D SELF-ASSEMBLY OF FUNCTIONALIZED Al-SALOPHEN COMPLEXES AT SOLID-LIQUID INTERFACE

The formation of highly ordered self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) is of remarkable interest in the development of functional patterned surfaces for electronic applications as Quantum-dot Cellular Automata (QCA). QCA exploit quantum confinement, tunnelling and electrostatic interaction for transistor-less digital computing. In QCA, quantum dots are arranged in functional units called cells connected by tunneling pathways and containing, each, two mobile charges. Cells are capable to represent Boolean states (1 and 0) and to transfer the information to the neighbouring cells by electronic interaction. The logical function computed is then related to the topology of the cell network. To create an electronic device based on QCA concept, is therefore of fundamental importance that the cells organize themselves in a high ordered manner on the surface. Self-assembly of metal-complexes at liquid-solid interface was recently studied by different research groups, and it could be exploited for fix QCA cells on surfaces. Here we report our recent results on the supramolecular behaviour of aluminium salophen complexes. The molecules prepared presented a strong ordered self-assembly at the solid-liquid interface as evidenced by scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM), where the structure exhibits parallel and linear arrays. The possibility to prepare a penta-coordinate aluminium complex by treatment of MeAl(Salophen) complexes by direct reaction with acidic phenols open the way to the installation of different functionalities on the aluminium complexes. As these are strongly organize on the surface, a high ordered functionalization of the surface can be obtained.