Energy Release and It's Mechanism in Metal/Insulator/Metal Structures with Langmuire-Blodgett Films

Abstract

Energy release and its mechanism in metal/insulator/metal (MIM) structures are reported. Langmuire-Blodgett (LB) films of polyimide (PI), 2-pentadecyl-7,7',8,8'-tetracyanoquinodimethane (C₁₂-TCNQ) and a mixture of C₁₂-TCNQ and Bis(ethyleneditio)tetrathiafulvalene (BEDT-TTF) are used. The thickness of the LB films is approximately 100 Å, in other words very thin. In a previous study, energy was observed to be released from the structure of Al/PI/Au for approximately three years. The energy release from the structures of Al/C₁₂-TCNQ/Al, Al/C₁₂-TCNQ and BEDT-TTF/Au is the same as that from the structure of Al/PI/Au. One factor in the mechanism of energy release is considered to be the difference in work function between Al and Au, or the polarization of C₁₂-TCNQ LB films. An other factor considered is the diffusion of electrons in LB films. The difference in work function is the cause of energy release in an Al/PI/Au structure, the polarization in an Al/C₁₂-TCNQ/Al structure, and both in an Al/mixture/Au structure. A decrease in the temperature of the MIM structure was ascertained with the energy release. That is, thermal energy was considered to be transduced to electrical energy in the MIM structure. Furthermore, it is shown that the force of electron diffusion is stronger than the binding force between the positive and negative charges. It is clarified that neither a chemical reaction nor contact potential is the cause of energy release.