Interactions of self-organised discotic liquid crystals with ultrathin metal films

A novel hybrid organic/inorganic heterostructure is described, comprising a highly ordered discotic liquid crystal, layer, self-organised on an ultrathin An film. The electronic properties of the hybrid structure have been investigated using a range of theoretical techniques. The strong bonding of the molecules onto the metal surface, combined, with the high degree of periodicity across the molecular layer, results in the formation of a hybrid metal/molecular band structure which has been calculated using a periodic Newns-Anderson model. The in-plane conductivity was calculated using the Kubo-Greenwood formula, and electron trapping in the molecular layer was considered by use of a diffusion model. The effect of trapping is apparent in the frequency domain conductivity. The sensitivity of the frequency domain response to variations in the trapping parameters was studied, and interpreted in terms of potential gas sensing functionality.