Electronic Devices for Gas Sensing based on Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOF)

MOFs represent a new class of soft porous materials. The permanent porosity after solvent removal allows the reversible adsorption of guest molecules for sensing. The adsorption of gases can be tuned via the interaction with the open metal sites or with polar, basic or acid groups of the linkers. Gas loading of these MOFs causes variations in electronically relevant properties like work functions or dielectric behavior.

This project focusses on possible applications of such effects in simple electronic devices. Suitable devices (MOS capacitors or transistors) have to be designed and fabricated. Then, selected MOFs has to be crystallized as thin layers in preformed windows on these devices. Finally, the impact of different gas adsorptions on device properties (work function change -> changes in threshold voltage; change in dielectric properties -> capacity variation) will be evaluated.

Fig: schematically drawing of a MOS capacitor with MOF above the top electrode.