Control of electric signals in a thin film-based molecular optoelectronic system

Both the Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) technique and the artificial bilayer lipid membrane (BLM) technique have been proposed as methods of assembling molecular electronic devices. Electric signals can be elicited from these types of layered structures with embedded macromolecular pigments. The photoelectric responses to a short light pulse are highly variable in their characteristic relaxations. In an attempt to understand the factors responsible for this variability, the author has found equivalent circuit analysis to be useful in linking the observed photoresponses with the underlying physicochemical processes. The author´s approach is to combine conventional circuit analysis with electrochemical principles. This approach allows investigators to manipulate and to predict the relaxation time course of the photoelectric signal over a wide range of experimental conditions.<>