Current-voltage characteristics of layer-by-layer self-assembled colloidal thin films.

Self-organized construction of advanced materials and devices has been carried out starting with tailor-made colloidal nanoparticles as building blocks. Multilayer thin films of gold nanoparticles stabilized by glutamates and zinc sulfide nanoparticles capped with chitosan were self-organized by a modified polyelectrolyte deposition process. Resistive current-voltage characteristic was observed in devices (less than 50 layers). The conduction onset in thicker devices (>50 layers) was found to be at applied voltages of ∼1.6, ∼1.94, and ∼2.79 V for 75, 100, and 150 layer structures, respectively. Devices exhibit similar behavior in forward and reverse biases and the electrical characteristics were repeatable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]