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Dief EM, Low PJ, Díez-Pérez I, Darwish N. Advances in single-molecule junctions as tools for chemical and biochemical analysis. Nat Chem 2023; 15:600-614. [PMID: 37106094 DOI: 10.1038/s41557-023-01178-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/14/2021] [Accepted: 03/02/2023] [Indexed: 04/29/2023]
Abstract
The development of miniaturized electronics has led to the design and construction of powerful experimental platforms capable of measuring electronic properties to the level of single molecules, along with new theoretical concepts to aid in the interpretation of the data. A new area of activity is now emerging concerned with repurposing the tools of molecular electronics for applications in chemical and biological analysis. Single-molecule junction techniques, such as the scanning tunnelling microscope break junction and related single-molecule circuit approaches have a remarkable capacity to transduce chemical information from individual molecules, sampled in real time, to electrical signals. In this Review, we discuss single-molecule junction approaches as emerging analytical tools for the chemical and biological sciences. We demonstrate how these analytical techniques are being extended to systems capable of probing chemical reaction mechanisms. We also examine how molecular junctions enable the detection of RNA, DNA, and traces of proteins in solution with limits of detection at the zeptomole level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Essam M Dief
- School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Paul J Low
- School of Molecular Sciences, University of Western Australia, Crawley, Western Australia, Australia
| | - Ismael Díez-Pérez
- Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Natural & Mathematical Sciences, King's College London, London, UK
| | - Nadim Darwish
- School of Molecular and Life Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley, Western Australia, Australia.
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2
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Meng L, Xin N, Hu C, Sabea HA, Zhang M, Jiang H, Ji Y, Jia C, Yan Z, Zhang Q, Gu L, He X, Selvanathan P, Norel L, Rigaut S, Guo H, Meng S, Guo X. Dual-gated single-molecule field-effect transistors beyond Moore's law. Nat Commun 2022; 13:1410. [PMID: 35301285 PMCID: PMC8931007 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-28999-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2021] [Accepted: 02/18/2022] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
As conventional silicon-based transistors are fast approaching the physical limit, it is essential to seek alternative candidates, which should be compatible with or even replace microelectronics in the future. Here, we report a robust solid-state single-molecule field-effect transistor architecture using graphene source/drain electrodes and a metal back-gate electrode. The transistor is constructed by a single dinuclear ruthenium-diarylethene (Ru-DAE) complex, acting as the conducting channel, connecting covalently with nanogapped graphene electrodes, providing field-effect behaviors with a maximum on/off ratio exceeding three orders of magnitude. Use of ultrathin high-k metal oxides as the dielectric layers is key in successfully achieving such a high performance. Additionally, Ru-DAE preserves its intrinsic photoisomerisation property, which enables a reversible photoswitching function. Both experimental and theoretical results demonstrate these distinct dual-gated behaviors consistently at the single-molecule level, which helps to develop the different technology for creation of practical ultraminiaturised functional electrical circuits beyond Moore’s law. Conventional silicon-based transistors, which sit at the heart of every computer, are fast approaching the limit of miniaturisation. Here, Meng et al demonstrate a field-effect transistor composed of a single rutheniumdiarylethene molecule with large on/off ratio.
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Affiliation(s)
- Linan Meng
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, National Biomedical Imaging Center, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, 292 Chengfu Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100871, PR China.,Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, PR China
| | - Na Xin
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, National Biomedical Imaging Center, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, 292 Chengfu Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100871, PR China
| | - Chen Hu
- Center for the Physics of Materials and Department of Physics, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 2T8, Canada
| | - Hassan Al Sabea
- Univ Rennes, CNRS, ISCR (Institut des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes)-UMR 6226, F-35000, Rennes, France
| | - Miao Zhang
- Center of Single-Molecule Sciences, Institute of Modern Optics, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, 38 Tongyan Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin, 300350, PR China
| | - Hongyu Jiang
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, PR China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, PR China
| | - Yiru Ji
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, PR China.,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, PR China
| | - Chuancheng Jia
- Center of Single-Molecule Sciences, Institute of Modern Optics, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, 38 Tongyan Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin, 300350, PR China
| | - Zhuang Yan
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, National Biomedical Imaging Center, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, 292 Chengfu Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100871, PR China
| | - Qinghua Zhang
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, PR China
| | - Lin Gu
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, PR China
| | - Xiaoyan He
- Univ Rennes, CNRS, ISCR (Institut des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes)-UMR 6226, F-35000, Rennes, France
| | - Pramila Selvanathan
- Univ Rennes, CNRS, ISCR (Institut des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes)-UMR 6226, F-35000, Rennes, France
| | - Lucie Norel
- Univ Rennes, CNRS, ISCR (Institut des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes)-UMR 6226, F-35000, Rennes, France
| | - Stéphane Rigaut
- Univ Rennes, CNRS, ISCR (Institut des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes)-UMR 6226, F-35000, Rennes, France.
| | - Hong Guo
- Center for the Physics of Materials and Department of Physics, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A 2T8, Canada.
| | - Sheng Meng
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, PR China. .,University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, PR China.
| | - Xuefeng Guo
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, National Biomedical Imaging Center, College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, 292 Chengfu Road, Haidian District, Beijing, 100871, PR China. .,Center of Single-Molecule Sciences, Institute of Modern Optics, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, 38 Tongyan Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin, 300350, PR China.
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3
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Ke Y, Erpenbeck A, Peskin U, Thoss M. Unraveling current-induced dissociation mechanisms in single-molecule junctions. J Chem Phys 2021; 154:234702. [PMID: 34241274 DOI: 10.1063/5.0053828] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding current-induced bond rupture in single-molecule junctions is both of fundamental interest and a prerequisite for the design of molecular junctions, which are stable at higher-bias voltages. In this work, we use a fully quantum mechanical method based on the hierarchical quantum master equation approach to analyze the dissociation mechanisms in molecular junctions. Considering a wide range of transport regimes, from off-resonant to resonant, non-adiabatic to adiabatic transport, and weak to strong vibronic coupling, our systematic study identifies three dissociation mechanisms. In the weak and intermediate vibronic coupling regime, the dominant dissociation mechanism is stepwise vibrational ladder climbing. For strong vibronic coupling, dissociation is induced via multi-quantum vibrational excitations triggered either by a single electronic transition at high bias voltages or by multiple electronic transitions at low biases. Furthermore, the influence of vibrational relaxation on the dissociation dynamics is analyzed and strategies for improving the stability of molecular junctions are discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaling Ke
- Institute of Physics, Albert-Ludwig University Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Strasse 3, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
| | - André Erpenbeck
- School of Chemistry, The Raymond and Beverley Sackler Center for Computational Molecular and Materials Science, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
| | - Uri Peskin
- Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
| | - Michael Thoss
- Institute of Physics, Albert-Ludwig University Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Strasse 3, 79104 Freiburg, Germany
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Sun H, Liu X, Su Y, Deng B, Peng H, Decurtins S, Sanvito S, Liu SX, Hou S, Liao J. Dirac-cone induced gating enhancement in single-molecule field-effect transistors. NANOSCALE 2019; 11:13117-13125. [PMID: 31268079 DOI: 10.1039/c9nr01551e] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Using graphene as electrodes provides an opportunity for fabricating stable single-molecule field-effect transistors (FETs) operating at room temperature. However, the role of the unique graphene band structure in charge transport of single-molecule devices is still not clear. Here we report the Dirac-cone induced electrostatic gating effects in single-molecule FETs with graphene electrodes and a solid-state local bottom gate. With the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) as the dominating conduction channel and the graphene leads remaining intrinsic at zero gate voltage, electrostatic gating on the HOMO and the density of states of graphene at the negative gate polarity reinforces each other, resulting in an enhanced conductance modulation. In contrast, gating effects on the HOMO and the graphene states at the positive gate polarity are opposite. Depending on the gating efficiencies, the conductance can decrease, increase or remain almost unchanged when a more positive gate voltage is applied. Our observations can be well understood by a modified single-level model taking into account the linear dispersion of graphene near the Dirac point. Single-molecule FETs with Dirac-cone enhanced gating have shown high performances, with the modulation of a wide range of current over one order of magnitude. Our studies highlight the advantages of using graphene as an electrode material for molecular devices and pave the way for single-molecule FETs toward circuitry applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hantao Sun
- Key Laboratory for the Physics and Chemistry of Nanodevices, Department of Electronics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China. and Centre for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Xunshan Liu
- Departement für Chemie und Biochemie, Universität Bern, Freiestrasse 3, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Yanjie Su
- Key Laboratory for the Physics and Chemistry of Nanodevices, Department of Electronics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China. and Centre for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Bing Deng
- Center for Nanochemistry, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Hailin Peng
- Center for Nanochemistry, Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences (BNLMS), College of Chemistry and Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Silvio Decurtins
- Departement für Chemie und Biochemie, Universität Bern, Freiestrasse 3, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Stefano Sanvito
- School of Physics, AMBER and CRANN Institute, Trinity College, Dublin 2, Ireland
| | - Shi-Xia Liu
- Departement für Chemie und Biochemie, Universität Bern, Freiestrasse 3, 3012 Bern, Switzerland.
| | - Shimin Hou
- Key Laboratory for the Physics and Chemistry of Nanodevices, Department of Electronics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China. and Centre for Nanoscale Science and Technology, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
| | - Jianhui Liao
- Key Laboratory for the Physics and Chemistry of Nanodevices, Department of Electronics, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.
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