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Isshiki Y, Montes E, Nishino T, Vázquez H, Fujii S. Resolving molecular frontier orbitals in molecular junctions with kHz resolution. Chem Sci 2024:d4sc05285d. [PMID: 39360008 PMCID: PMC11441469 DOI: 10.1039/d4sc05285d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/07/2024] [Accepted: 09/19/2024] [Indexed: 10/04/2024] Open
Abstract
Designing and building single-molecule circuits with tailored functionalities requires a detailed knowledge of the junction electronic structure. The energy of frontier molecular orbitals and their electronic coupling with the electrodes play a key role in determining the conductance of nanoscale molecular circuits. Here, we developed a method for measuring the current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of single-molecule junctions with a time resolution that is two orders of magnitude higher than previously achieved. These I-V measurements with high temporal resolution, together with atomistic simulations, enabled us to characterize in detail the frontier molecular states and their evolution in sub-angstrom stretching of the junction. For a series of molecules, changes in the electronic structure were resolved as well as their fluctuations prior to junction breakdown. This study describes a new methodology to determine the key frontier MO parameters at single-molecule junctions and demonstrates how these can be mechanically tuned at the single-molecule level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuji Isshiki
- Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology 2-12-1 W4-10 Ookayama Meguro-ku Tokyo 152-8551 Japan
| | - Enrique Montes
- Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences Cukrovarnická 10 Prague CZ-162 00 Czech Republic
| | - Tomoaki Nishino
- Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology 2-12-1 W4-10 Ookayama Meguro-ku Tokyo 152-8551 Japan
| | - Héctor Vázquez
- Institute of Physics, Czech Academy of Sciences Cukrovarnická 10 Prague CZ-162 00 Czech Republic
| | - Shintaro Fujii
- Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Tokyo Institute of Technology 2-12-1 W4-10 Ookayama Meguro-ku Tokyo 152-8551 Japan
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2
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Qi Q, Tian G, Ma L. Enhancing the thermopower of single-molecule junctions by edge substitution effects. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2024; 26:11340-11346. [PMID: 38564269 DOI: 10.1039/d3cp06176k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Heteroatom substitution and anchoring groups have an important impact on the thermoelectric properties of single-molecule junctions. Herein, thermoelectric properties of several anthracene derivative based single-molecule junctions are studied by means of first-principles calculations. In particular, we pay great attention to the edge substitution effects and find that edge substitution with nitrogen can induce a transmission peak near the Fermi energy, leading to large transmission coefficients and electrical conductance at the Fermi energy. Additionally, the steep shape of the transmission function gives rise to a high Seebeck coefficient. Therefore, an enhanced power factor can be expected. The robustness of this edge substitution effect has been examined by altering the electrode distance and introducing heteroatoms at different positions. The enhancement of the power factor due to edge substitution makes the studied single-molecule junction a promising candidate for efficient thermoelectric devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiang Qi
- State Key Laboratory of Metastable Material Science & Technology and Key Laboratory for Microstructural Material Physics of Hebei Province, School of Science, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, 066004, P. R. China.
| | - Guangjun Tian
- State Key Laboratory of Metastable Material Science & Technology and Key Laboratory for Microstructural Material Physics of Hebei Province, School of Science, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, 066004, P. R. China.
| | - Liang Ma
- State Key Laboratory of Metastable Material Science & Technology and Key Laboratory for Microstructural Material Physics of Hebei Province, School of Science, Yanshan University, Qinhuangdao, 066004, P. R. China.
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3
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Iv M, Rahav S, Peskin U. Emergence of Boltzmann Subspaces in Open Quantum Systems Far from Equilibrium. PHYSICAL REVIEW LETTERS 2024; 132:110401. [PMID: 38563930 DOI: 10.1103/physrevlett.132.110401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/26/2023] [Accepted: 02/05/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Single molecule junctions are important examples of complex out-of-equilibrium many-body quantum systems. We identify a nontrivial clustering of steady state populations into distinctive subspaces with Boltzmann-like statistics, which persist far from equilibrium. Such Boltzmann subspaces significantly reduce the information needed to describe the steady state, enabling modeling of high-dimensional systems that are otherwise beyond the reach of current computations. The emergence of Boltzmann subspaces is demonstrated analytically and numerically for fermionic transport systems of increasing complexity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Iv
- Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
| | - Saar Rahav
- Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
| | - Uri Peskin
- Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
- The Helen Diller Quantum Center, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
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4
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Chen L, Yang Z, Lin Q, Li X, Bai J, Hong W. Evolution of Single-Molecule Electronic Interfaces. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2024; 40:1988-2004. [PMID: 38227964 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.3c03104] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2024]
Abstract
Single-molecule electronics can fabricate single-molecule devices via the construction of molecule-electrode interfaces and also provide a unique tool to investigate single-molecule scale physicochemical processes at these interfaces. To investigate single-molecule electronic devices with desired functionalities, an understanding of the interface evolution processes in single-molecule devices is essential. In this review, we focus on the evolution of molecule-electrode interface properties, including the background of interface evolution in single-molecule electronics, the construction of different types of single-molecule interfaces, and the regulation methods. Finally, we discuss the perspective of future characterization techniques and applications for single-molecule electronic interfaces.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lichuan Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & College of Materials & IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361000, China
| | - Zixian Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & College of Materials & IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361000, China
| | - Qichao Lin
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & College of Materials & IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361000, China
| | - Xiaohui Li
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & College of Materials & IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361000, China
| | - Jie Bai
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & College of Materials & IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361000, China
| | - Wenjing Hong
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & College of Materials & IKKEM, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361000, China
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5
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Marek Š, Korytár R. Widening of the fundamental gap in cluster GW for metal-molecular interfaces. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2024; 26:2127-2133. [PMID: 38131459 DOI: 10.1039/d3cp04082h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2023]
Abstract
The GW approximation is very promising for an accurate first-principles description of charged excitations in single-molecule-metal interfaces. In the cluster approach for electronic transport across molecules, the infinite metal (with an adsorbed molecule) is replaced by a finite cluster whose volume should be incrementally increased to test the approach to the thermodynamic limit. Here we show that in GW, the approach to the thermodynamic limit will be much slower than in Kohn-Sham density-functional theory (DFT) because of the Coulomb interaction. To demonstrate this statement, we investigate spectral gaps in an ensemble of disordered sodium clusters in Kohn-Sham DFT, quasiparticle eigenvalue-self-consistent GW and Hartree-Fock. The fundamental gaps (i.e. difference between the lowest unoccupied and highest occupied level) in GW scale as N-1/3 on average, where N is the number of atoms. We demonstrate that this slow decrease artificially depletes the density of states at the Fermi level when the cluster is used to simulate a semi-infinite electrode. Therefore, the GW method cannot be taken as an out-of-the-box improvement of the DFT in cluster geometries, unless careful convergence checks are performed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Štěpán Marek
- Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, Ke Karlovu 5, Praha 2, 121 16, Czech Republic.
| | - Richard Korytár
- Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, Ke Karlovu 5, Praha 2, 121 16, Czech Republic.
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Oz A, Nitzan A, Hod O, Peralta JE. Electron Dynamics in Open Quantum Systems: The Driven Liouville-von Neumann Methodology within Time-Dependent Density Functional Theory. J Chem Theory Comput 2023; 19:7496-7504. [PMID: 37852250 PMCID: PMC10653109 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jctc.3c00311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2023] [Indexed: 10/20/2023]
Abstract
A first-principles approach to describe electron dynamics in open quantum systems driven far from equilibrium via external time-dependent stimuli is introduced. Within this approach, the driven Liouville-von Neumann methodology is used to impose open boundary conditions on finite model systems whose dynamics is described using time-dependent density functional theory. As a proof of concept, the developed methodology is applied to simple spin-compensated model systems, including a hydrogen chain and a graphitic molecular junction. Good agreement between steady-state total currents obtained via direct propagation and those obtained from the self-consistent solution of the corresponding Sylvester equation indicates the validity of the implementation. The capability of the new computational approach to analyze, from first principles, non-equilibrium dynamics of open quantum systems in terms of temporally and spatially resolved current densities is demonstrated. Future extensions of the approach toward the description of dynamical magnetization and decoherence effects are briefly discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Annabelle Oz
- Department
of Physical Chemistry, School of Chemistry, the Raymond and Beverly
Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, and the Sackler Center for Computational
Molecular and Materials Science, Tel Aviv
University, Tel Aviv, 6997801, Israel
| | - Abraham Nitzan
- Department
of Physical Chemistry, School of Chemistry, the Raymond and Beverly
Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, and the Sackler Center for Computational
Molecular and Materials Science, Tel Aviv
University, Tel Aviv, 6997801, Israel
- Department
of Chemistry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103, United States
| | - Oded Hod
- Department
of Physical Chemistry, School of Chemistry, the Raymond and Beverly
Sackler Faculty of Exact Sciences, and the Sackler Center for Computational
Molecular and Materials Science, Tel Aviv
University, Tel Aviv, 6997801, Israel
| | - Juan E. Peralta
- Department
of Physics, Central Michigan University, Mount Pleasant, Michigan 48859, United States
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7
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Pabi B, Marek Š, Pal A, Kumari P, Ray SJ, Thakur A, Korytár R, Pal AN. Resonant transport in a highly conducting single molecular junction via metal-metal covalent bond. NANOSCALE 2023; 15:12995-13008. [PMID: 37483089 DOI: 10.1039/d3nr02585c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 07/25/2023]
Abstract
Achieving highly transmitting molecular junctions through resonant transport at low bias is key to the next-generation low-power molecular devices. Although resonant transport in molecular junctions was observed by connecting a molecule between the metal electrodes via chemical anchors by applying a high source-drain bias (>1 V), the conductance was limited to <0.1G0, G0 being the quantum of conductance. Herein, we report electronic transport measurements by directly connecting a ferrocene molecule between Au electrodes under ambient conditions in a mechanically controllable break junction setup (MCBJ), revealing a conductance peak at ∼0.2G0 in the conductance histogram. A similar experiment was repeated for ferrocene terminated with amine (-NH2) and cyano (-CN) anchors, where conductance histograms exhibit an extended low conductance feature, including the sharp high conductance peak, similar to pristine ferrocene. The statistical analysis of the data and density functional theory-based transport calculation suggest a possible molecular conformation with a strong hybridization between the Au electrodes, and that the Fe atom of ferrocene is responsible for a near-perfect transmission in the vicinity of the Fermi energy, leading to the resonant transport at a small applied bias (<0.5 V). Moreover, calculations including van der Waals/dispersion corrections reveal a covalent-like organometallic bonding between Au and the central Fe atom of ferrocene, having bond energies of ∼660 meV. Overall, our study not only demonstrates the realization of an air-stable highly transmitting molecular junction, but also provides important insights about the nature of chemical bonding at the metal/organo-metallic interface.
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Affiliation(s)
- Biswajit Pabi
- Department of Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Sector III, Block JD, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700106, India.
| | - Štepán Marek
- Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, 121 16, Prague 2, Czech Republic
| | - Adwitiya Pal
- Department of Chemistry, Jadavpur University, Kolkata-700032, India
| | - Puja Kumari
- Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Patna, Bihar-801106, India
| | - Soumya Jyoti Ray
- Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Patna, Bihar-801106, India
| | - Arunabha Thakur
- Department of Chemistry, Jadavpur University, Kolkata-700032, India
| | - Richard Korytár
- Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, 121 16, Prague 2, Czech Republic
| | - Atindra Nath Pal
- Department of Condensed Matter and Materials Physics, S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Sector III, Block JD, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700106, India.
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8
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Zhang H, Zhou P, Daaoub A, Sangtarash S, Zhao S, Yang Z, Zhou Y, Zou YL, Decurtins S, Häner R, Yang Y, Sadeghi H, Liu SX, Hong W. Atomically well-defined nitrogen doping for cross-plane transport through graphene heterojunctions. Chem Sci 2023; 14:6079-6086. [PMID: 37293661 PMCID: PMC10246689 DOI: 10.1039/d3sc00075c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2023] [Accepted: 05/10/2023] [Indexed: 06/10/2023] Open
Abstract
The nitrogen doping of graphene leads to graphene heterojunctions with a tunable bandgap, suitable for electronic, electrochemical, and sensing applications. However, the microscopic nature and charge transport properties of atomic-level nitrogen-doped graphene are still unknown, mainly due to the multiple doping sites with topological diversities. In this work, we fabricated atomically well-defined N-doped graphene heterojunctions and investigated the cross-plane transport through these heterojunctions to reveal the effects of doping on their electronic properties. We found that a different doping number of nitrogen atoms leads to a conductance difference of up to ∼288%, and the conductance of graphene heterojunctions with nitrogen-doping at different positions in the conjugated framework can also lead to a conductance difference of ∼170%. Combined ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy measurements and theoretical calculations reveal that the insertion of nitrogen atoms into the conjugation framework significantly stabilizes the frontier molecular orbitals, leading to a change in the relative positions of the HOMO and LUMO to the Fermi level of the electrodes. Our work provides a unique insight into the role of nitrogen doping in the charge transport through graphene heterojunctions and materials at the single atomic level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hewei Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, IKKEM, Xiamen University 361005 Xiamen China
| | - Ping Zhou
- Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Bern Freiestrasse 3 3012 Bern Switzerland
| | - Abdalghani Daaoub
- Device Modelling Group, School of Engineering, University of Warwick Coventry CV4 7AL UK
| | - Sara Sangtarash
- Device Modelling Group, School of Engineering, University of Warwick Coventry CV4 7AL UK
| | - Shiqiang Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, IKKEM, Xiamen University 361005 Xiamen China
| | - Zixian Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, IKKEM, Xiamen University 361005 Xiamen China
| | - Yu Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, IKKEM, Xiamen University 361005 Xiamen China
| | - Yu-Ling Zou
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, IKKEM, Xiamen University 361005 Xiamen China
| | - Silvio Decurtins
- Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Bern Freiestrasse 3 3012 Bern Switzerland
| | - Robert Häner
- Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Bern Freiestrasse 3 3012 Bern Switzerland
| | - Yang Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, IKKEM, Xiamen University 361005 Xiamen China
| | - Hatef Sadeghi
- Device Modelling Group, School of Engineering, University of Warwick Coventry CV4 7AL UK
| | - Shi-Xia Liu
- Department of Chemistry, Biochemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Bern Freiestrasse 3 3012 Bern Switzerland
| | - Wenjing Hong
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, IKKEM, Xiamen University 361005 Xiamen China
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Bajaj A, Ali ME. Anti-ohmic nanoconductors: myth, reality and promise. Phys Chem Chem Phys 2023; 25:9607-9616. [PMID: 36942699 DOI: 10.1039/d3cp00366c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 03/06/2023]
Abstract
The recent accomplishment in the design of molecular nanowires characterized by increasing conductance with length has led to the origin of an extraordinary new family of molecular junctions referred to as "anti-ohmic" wires. Herein, this highly desirable, non-classical behavior, has been examined for molecules long-enough to exhibit pronounced diradical character in their ground state within the unrestricted DFT formalism with spin symmetry breaking. We demonstrate that highly conjugated acenes signal higher resistance in an open-shell singlet (OSS) configuration as compared to their closed-shell counterparts. This anomaly has been further proven for experimentally certified cumulene wires, which reveals phenomenal modulation in the transport characteristics such that an increasing conductance is observed in the closed-shell limit, while higher cumulenes in the OSS ground state yield regular decay of conductance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashima Bajaj
- Institute of Nano Science and Technology, Sector-81, Mohali, Punjab-140306, India.
| | - Md Ehesan Ali
- Institute of Nano Science and Technology, Sector-81, Mohali, Punjab-140306, India.
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10
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Li P, Zhou L, Zhao C, Ju H, Gao Q, Si W, Cheng L, Hao J, Li M, Chen Y, Jia C, Guo X. Single-molecule nano-optoelectronics: insights from physics. REPORTS ON PROGRESS IN PHYSICS. PHYSICAL SOCIETY (GREAT BRITAIN) 2022; 85:086401. [PMID: 35623319 DOI: 10.1088/1361-6633/ac7401] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/29/2021] [Accepted: 05/27/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Single-molecule optoelectronic devices promise a potential solution for miniaturization and functionalization of silicon-based microelectronic circuits in the future. For decades of its fast development, this field has made significant progress in the synthesis of optoelectronic materials, the fabrication of single-molecule devices and the realization of optoelectronic functions. On the other hand, single-molecule optoelectronic devices offer a reliable platform to investigate the intrinsic physical phenomena and regulation rules of matters at the single-molecule level. To further realize and regulate the optoelectronic functions toward practical applications, it is necessary to clarify the intrinsic physical mechanisms of single-molecule optoelectronic nanodevices. Here, we provide a timely review to survey the physical phenomena and laws involved in single-molecule optoelectronic materials and devices, including charge effects, spin effects, exciton effects, vibronic effects, structural and orbital effects. In particular, we will systematically summarize the basics of molecular optoelectronic materials, and the physical effects and manipulations of single-molecule optoelectronic nanodevices. In addition, fundamentals of single-molecule electronics, which are basic of single-molecule optoelectronics, can also be found in this review. At last, we tend to focus the discussion on the opportunities and challenges arising in the field of single-molecule optoelectronics, and propose further potential breakthroughs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peihui Li
- Center of Single-Molecule Sciences, Institute of Modern Optics, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Micro-Scale Optical Information Science and Technology, College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, 38 Tongyan Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin 300350, People's Republic of China
| | - Li Zhou
- Center of Single-Molecule Sciences, Institute of Modern Optics, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Micro-Scale Optical Information Science and Technology, College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, 38 Tongyan Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin 300350, People's Republic of China
| | - Cong Zhao
- Center of Single-Molecule Sciences, Institute of Modern Optics, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Micro-Scale Optical Information Science and Technology, College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, 38 Tongyan Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin 300350, People's Republic of China
| | - Hongyu Ju
- Center of Single-Molecule Sciences, Institute of Modern Optics, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Micro-Scale Optical Information Science and Technology, College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, 38 Tongyan Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin 300350, People's Republic of China
- School of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology, Tianjin University, 92 Weijin Road, Nankai District, Tianjin 300072, People's Republic of China
| | - Qinghua Gao
- Center of Single-Molecule Sciences, Institute of Modern Optics, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Micro-Scale Optical Information Science and Technology, College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, 38 Tongyan Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin 300350, People's Republic of China
| | - Wei Si
- Center of Single-Molecule Sciences, Institute of Modern Optics, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Micro-Scale Optical Information Science and Technology, College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, 38 Tongyan Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin 300350, People's Republic of China
| | - Li Cheng
- Center of Single-Molecule Sciences, Institute of Modern Optics, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Micro-Scale Optical Information Science and Technology, College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, 38 Tongyan Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin 300350, People's Republic of China
| | - Jie Hao
- Center of Single-Molecule Sciences, Institute of Modern Optics, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Micro-Scale Optical Information Science and Technology, College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, 38 Tongyan Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin 300350, People's Republic of China
| | - Mengmeng Li
- Center of Single-Molecule Sciences, Institute of Modern Optics, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Micro-Scale Optical Information Science and Technology, College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, 38 Tongyan Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin 300350, People's Republic of China
| | - Yijian Chen
- Center of Single-Molecule Sciences, Institute of Modern Optics, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Micro-Scale Optical Information Science and Technology, College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, 38 Tongyan Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin 300350, People's Republic of China
| | - Chuancheng Jia
- Center of Single-Molecule Sciences, Institute of Modern Optics, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Micro-Scale Optical Information Science and Technology, College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, 38 Tongyan Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin 300350, People's Republic of China
- 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, People's Republic of China
| | - Xuefeng Guo
- Center of Single-Molecule Sciences, Institute of Modern Optics, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Micro-Scale Optical Information Science and Technology, College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, 38 Tongyan Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin 300350, People's Republic of China
- 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, People's Republic of China
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11
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Xiao B, Dong J, Wang Z, Wang X, Sun M, Guo J, Qian G, Li Y, Chang S. Conductance modulation of metal-molecule-metal junction via extra acid addition and its mechanism investigation. Chemphyschem 2022; 23:e202100833. [PMID: 35138016 DOI: 10.1002/cphc.202100833] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/19/2021] [Revised: 01/29/2022] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
The advance of single molecular device fabrication strongly relies on the understanding of the metal-molecule-metal junction that can response to the external stimulus. A model Lewis basic molecule DBP which can react with Lewis acid and protic acid was synthesized, then the molecular conducting behavior of the original molecule and the resulted Lewis acid-base pair were researched. Allowing for their identical physical paths for charge conducting, these results indicated that adjusting the molecular electronic structure, even not directly changing the conductive molecular backbone, could also tune the charge transporting ability by nearly one order of magnitude. Furthermore, the addition of another Lewis base - Triethylamine to Lewis acid-base pair brought the electrical properties back to that of single DBP junction, which establishs a basic understanding in the design and construction of reversible and controllable molecular device based on pyridine derived molecule.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bohuai Xiao
- Wuhan University of Science and Technology, College of Material and Metallurgy, CHINA
| | - Jianqiao Dong
- Wuhan University of Science and Technology, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, 947 Heping Avenue, Qingshan District, Wuhan, CHINA
| | - Zhiye Wang
- Wuhan University of Science and Technology, College of Material and Metallurgy, CHINA
| | - Xu Wang
- Wuhan University of Science and Technology, College of Material and Metallurgy, CHINA
| | - Mingjun Sun
- Wuhan University of Science and Technology, College of Material and Metallurgy, CHINA
| | - Jing Guo
- Wuhan University of Science and Technology, College of Material and Metallurgy, CHINA
| | - Gongming Qian
- Wuhan University of Science and Technology, College of Resources and Environment, CHINA
| | - Yunchuan Li
- Wuhan University of Science and Technology, College of Material and Metallurgy, 947 Heping Avenue, Qingshan District, 430081, Wuhan, CHINA
| | - Shuai Chang
- Wuhan University of Science and Technology, College of Material and Metallurgy, CHINA
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12
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Fallaque JG, Rodríguez-González S, Díaz C, Martín F. A simple model to engineer single-molecule conductance of acenes by chemical disubstitution. NANOSCALE 2022; 14:464-472. [PMID: 34908088 DOI: 10.1039/d1nr06687k] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Understanding and controlling electrical conductivity at the single-molecule level is of fundamental importance for the development of new molecular electronic devices. This ideally requires considering the many different options offered by the molecular structure, the nature of the electrodes, and all possible molecule-electrode anchoring configurations, which is experimentally tedious and theoretically very expensive. Here we present a systematic theoretical study of the conductance of di-amino, di-methylthio and di-(4-methylthio)phenyl acenes, from benzene to pentacene, and for all possible distributions of two identical linkers symmetrically placed on opposite sides of the same ring. We show that, for all investigated compounds, the relative variation of the conductance is well explained by the variations of the HOMO energies as predicted by a simple extended-Hückel approach, i.e., without the need for further input from more elaborate calculations. The model predicts quite nicely that diamino acenes are better conductors than their corresponding dimethylthio analogues, and both much better than the di-(4-methylthio)phenyl counterparts, irrespective of the linkers' relative positions. It also predicts, for a given pair of linkers, the variations in the conductance resulting from changing the acene size and/or the relative position of the linkers. These variations can be as large as an order of magnitude, and therefore can be used to engineer molecular conductance. Finally, we show that a similar approach should be useful to predict trends in the relative conductance of a large variety of disubstituted acene isomers, including various linkers.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joel G Fallaque
- Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados en Nanociencia (IMDEA-Nano), Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
- Departamento de Química, Módulo 13, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
| | - Sandra Rodríguez-González
- Departamento de Química, Módulo 13, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
- Departamento de Química Física, Universidad de Málaga, Campus de Teatinos, 29071 Málaga, Spain
| | - Cristina Díaz
- Departamento de Química, Módulo 13, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
- Departamento de Química Física, Facultad de Ciencias Químicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, Spain
| | - Fernando Martín
- Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados en Nanociencia (IMDEA-Nano), Campus de Cantoblanco, 28049 Madrid, Spain.
- Departamento de Química, Módulo 13, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
- Condensed Matter Physics Center (IFIMAC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049 Madrid, Spain
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13
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Lv Y, Lin J, Song K, Song X, Zang H, Zang Y, Zhu D. Single cycloparaphenylene molecule devices: Achieving large conductance modulation via tuning radial π-conjugation. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:eabk3095. [PMID: 34936467 PMCID: PMC8694625 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abk3095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2021] [Accepted: 11/10/2021] [Indexed: 06/14/2023]
Abstract
Conjugated macrocycles cycloparaphenylenes (CPPs) have unusual size-dependent electronic properties because of their unique radially π-conjugated structures. Contrary to linearly π-conjugated molecules, their highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO)–lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) gap shrinks as the molecular size reduces, and this feature can, in principle, be leveraged to achieve unexpected size-dependent transport properties. Here, we examine charge transport characteristics of [n]CPPs (n = 5 to 12) at the single molecule level using the scanning tunneling microscope–break junction technique. We find that the [n]CPPs have a much higher conductance than their linear oligoparaphenylene counterparts at small ring size and at the same time show a large tunneling attenuation coefficient comparable to saturated alkane series. These results show that the radially π-conjugated molecular systems can offer much larger conductance modulation range than standard linear molecules and can be a new platform for building molecular devices with highly tunable transport behaviors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yaxin Lv
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, CAS Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- School of Chemistry, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China
| | - Junfeng Lin
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, CAS Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Kai Song
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, CAS Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
| | - Xuwei Song
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, CAS Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Hongjun Zang
- School of Chemistry, Tiangong University, Tianjin 300387, China
| | - Yaping Zang
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, CAS Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
- University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
| | - Daoben Zhu
- Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, CAS Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China
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14
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Chen Y, Huang M, Zhou Q, Li Z, Meng J, Pan M, Ye X, Liu T, Chang S, Xiao S. Regio- and Steric Effects on Single Molecule Conductance of Phenanthrenes. NANO LETTERS 2021; 21:10333-10340. [PMID: 34874740 DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.1c03565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
Here, six phenanthrene (the smallest arm-chair graphene nanoribbon) derivatives with dithiomethyl substitutions at different positions as the anchoring groups were synthesized. Scanning tunneling microscopy break junction technique was used to measure their single molecule conductances between gold electrodes, which showed a difference as much as 20-fold in the range of ∼10-2.82 G0 to ∼10-4.09 G0 following the trend of G2,7 > G3,6 > G2,6 > G1,7 > G1,6 > G1,8. DFT calculations agree well with this measured trend and indicate that the single molecule conductances are a combination of energy alignment, electronic coupling, and quantum effects. This significant regio- and steric effect on the single molecule conductance of phenanthrene model molecules shows the complexity in the practice of graphene nanoribbons as building blocks for future carbon-based electronics in one hand but also provides good conductance tunability on the other hand.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yan Chen
- The Education Ministry Key Lab of Resource Chemistry, Joint International Research Laboratory of Resource Chemistry, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Functional Materials, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
| | - Mingzhu Huang
- The State Key Laboratory of Refractories and Metallurgy, the Institute of Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430081, China
| | - Qinghai Zhou
- The Education Ministry Key Lab of Resource Chemistry, Joint International Research Laboratory of Resource Chemistry, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Functional Materials, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
| | - Zhen Li
- The Education Ministry Key Lab of Resource Chemistry, Joint International Research Laboratory of Resource Chemistry, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Functional Materials, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
| | - Jing Meng
- The Education Ministry Key Lab of Resource Chemistry, Joint International Research Laboratory of Resource Chemistry, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Functional Materials, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
| | - Mengyuan Pan
- The Education Ministry Key Lab of Resource Chemistry, Joint International Research Laboratory of Resource Chemistry, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Functional Materials, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
| | - Xiang Ye
- Key Laboratory of Opto-electrical Material and Device, Department of Physics, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
| | - Taifeng Liu
- The Education Ministry Key Lab of Resource Chemistry, Joint International Research Laboratory of Resource Chemistry, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Functional Materials, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
| | - Shuai Chang
- The State Key Laboratory of Refractories and Metallurgy, the Institute of Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology, Wuhan University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei 430081, China
| | - Shengxiong Xiao
- The Education Ministry Key Lab of Resource Chemistry, Joint International Research Laboratory of Resource Chemistry, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Functional Materials, College of Chemistry and Materials Science, Shanghai Normal University, Shanghai 200234, China
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15
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Yelin T, Chakrabarti S, Vilan A, Tal O. Richness of molecular junction configurations revealed by tracking a full pull-push cycle. NANOSCALE 2021; 13:18434-18440. [PMID: 34700338 PMCID: PMC8601122 DOI: 10.1039/d1nr05680h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/29/2021] [Accepted: 10/10/2021] [Indexed: 05/14/2023]
Abstract
In the field of molecular electronics, the interplay between molecular orientation and the resulting electronic transport is of central interest. At the single molecule level, this topic is extensively studied with the aid of break junction setups. In such experiments, two metal electrodes are brought into contact, and the conductance is typically measured when the electrodes are pulled apart in the presence of molecules, until a molecule bridges the two electrodes. However, the molecular junctions formed in this pull process reflect only part of the rich possible junction configurations. Here, we show that the push process, in which molecular junctions are formed by bringing the electrodes towards each other, allows the fabrication of molecular junction structures that are not necessarily formed in the pull process. We also find that in the extreme case, molecular junctions can be formed only in the push process that is typically ignored. Our findings demonstrate that tracking the two inverse processes of molecular junction formation, reveals a more comprehensive picture of the variety of molecular configurations in molecular junctions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tamar Yelin
- Chemical and Biological Physics Department, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel.
| | - Sudipto Chakrabarti
- Chemical and Biological Physics Department, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel.
| | - Ayelet Vilan
- Chemical and Biological Physics Department, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel.
| | - Oren Tal
- Chemical and Biological Physics Department, Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel.
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16
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Tian L, Martine E, Yu X, Hu W. Amine-Anchored Aromatic Self-Assembled Monolayer Junction: Structure and Electric Transport Properties. LANGMUIR : THE ACS JOURNAL OF SURFACES AND COLLOIDS 2021; 37:12223-12233. [PMID: 34606290 DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.1c02194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/13/2023]
Abstract
We studied the structure and transport properties of aromatic amine self-assembled monolayers (NH2-SAMs) on an Au surface. The oligophenylene and oligoacene amines with variable lengths can form a densely packed and uniform monolayer under proper assembly conditions. Molecular junctions incorporating an eutectic Ga-In (EGaIn) top electrode were used to characterize the charge transport properties of the amine monolayer. The current density J of the junction decreases exponentially with the molecular length (d), as J = J0 exp(-βd), which is a sign of tunneling transport, with indistinguishable values of J0 and β for NH2-SAMs of oligophenylene and oligoacene, indicating a similar molecule-electrode contact and tunneling barrier for two groups of molecules. Compared with the oligophenylene and oligoacene molecules with thiol (SH) as the anchor group, a similar β value (∼0.35 Å-1) of the aromatic NH2-SAM suggests a similar tunneling barrier, while a lower (by 2 orders of magnitude) injection current J0 is attributed to lower electronic coupling Γ of the amine group with the electrode. These observations are further supported by single-level tunneling model fitting. Our study here demonstrates the NH2-SAMs can work as an effective active layer for molecular junctions, and provide key physical parameters for the charge transport, paving the road for their applications in functional devices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lixian Tian
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Science, School of Science, Tianjin University & Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Esther Martine
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Science, School of Science, Tianjin University & Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Xi Yu
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Science, School of Science, Tianjin University & Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin 300072, China
| | - Wenping Hu
- Tianjin Key Laboratory of Molecular Optoelectronic Science, School of Science, Tianjin University & Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemical Science and Engineering, Tianjin 300072, China
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17
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Zwick P, Dulić D, van der Zant HSJ, Mayor M. Porphyrins as building blocks for single-molecule devices. NANOSCALE 2021; 13:15500-15525. [PMID: 34558586 PMCID: PMC8485416 DOI: 10.1039/d1nr04523g] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2021] [Accepted: 08/19/2021] [Indexed: 05/23/2023]
Abstract
Direct measurement of single-molecule electrical transparency by break junction experiments has become a major field of research over the two last decades. This review specifically and comprehensively highlights the use of porphyrins as molecular components and discusses their potential use for the construction of future devices. Throughout the review, the features provided by porphyrins, such as low level misalignments and very low attenuation factors, are shown with numerous examples, illustrating the potential and limitations of these molecular junctions, as well as differences emerging from applied integration/investigation techniques.
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Affiliation(s)
- Patrick Zwick
- Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, St Johanns-Ring 19, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.
| | - Diana Dulić
- Department of Physics and Department of Electrical Engineering, Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, University of Chile, Avenida Blanco Encalada 2008, Santiago 8330015, Chile
| | - Herre S J van der Zant
- Kavli Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University of Technology, Lorentzweg 1, 2628 CJ Delft, The Netherlands
| | - Marcel Mayor
- Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, St Johanns-Ring 19, 4056 Basel, Switzerland.
- Institute for Nanotechnology (INT), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), P. O. Box 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
- Lehn Institute of Functional Materials (LIFM), School of Chemistry, Sun Yat-Sen University (SYSU), 510275 Guangzhou, China
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18
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Peng J, Sokolov S, Hernangómez-Pérez D, Evers F, Gross L, Lupton JM, Repp J. Atomically resolved single-molecule triplet quenching. Science 2021; 373:452-456. [PMID: 34437120 DOI: 10.1126/science.abh1155] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2021] [Accepted: 05/25/2021] [Indexed: 01/14/2023]
Abstract
The nonequilibrium triplet state of molecules plays an important role in photocatalysis, organic photovoltaics, and photodynamic therapy. We report the direct measurement of the triplet lifetime of an individual pentacene molecule on an insulating surface with atomic resolution by introducing an electronic pump-probe method in atomic force microscopy. Strong quenching of the triplet lifetime is observed if oxygen molecules are coadsorbed in close proximity. By means of single-molecule manipulation techniques, different arrangements with oxygen molecules were created and characterized with atomic precision, allowing for the direct correlation of molecular arrangements with the lifetime of the quenched triplet. Such electrical addressing of long-lived triplets of single molecules, combined with atomic-scale manipulation, offers previously unexplored routes to control and study local spin-spin interactions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jinbo Peng
- Institute for Experimental and Applied Physics and Regensburg Center for Ultrafast Nanoscopy (RUN), University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany.
| | - Sophia Sokolov
- Institute for Experimental and Applied Physics and Regensburg Center for Ultrafast Nanoscopy (RUN), University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Daniel Hernangómez-Pérez
- Department of Molecular Chemistry and Materials Science, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel
| | - Ferdinand Evers
- Institute for Theoretical Physics, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Leo Gross
- IBM Research-Zurich, 8803 Rüschlikon, Switzerland
| | - John M Lupton
- Institute for Experimental and Applied Physics and Regensburg Center for Ultrafast Nanoscopy (RUN), University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany
| | - Jascha Repp
- Institute for Experimental and Applied Physics and Regensburg Center for Ultrafast Nanoscopy (RUN), University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany.
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19
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Arasu NP, Vázquez H. Origin of the Electron Transport Properties of Aromatic and Antiaromatic Single Molecule Circuits. Chemphyschem 2021; 22:864-869. [PMID: 33656792 DOI: 10.1002/cphc.202100010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/08/2021] [Revised: 02/12/2021] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Abstract
Antiaromatic molecules have been predicted to exhibit increased electron transport properties when placed between two nanoelectrodes compared to their aromatic analogues. While some studies have demonstrated this relationship, others have found no substantial increase. We use atomistic simulations to establish a general relationship between the electronic spectra of aromatic, antiaromatic, and quinoidal molecules and illustrate its implications for electron transport. We compare the electronic properties of a series of aromatic-antiaromatic counterparts and show that antiaromaticity effectively p-dopes the aromatic electronic spectra. As a consequence, the conducting properties of aromatic-antiaromatic analogues are closely related. For similar attachment points to the electrodes, an interference feature is expected in the HOMO-LUMO gap of one whenever it is absent in the other one. We demonstrate how the relative conductance of aromatic-antiaromatic pairs can be tuned and even reversed through the choice of chemical linker groups. Our work provides a general picture relating connectivity, (anti)aromaticity, and quantum interference and establishes new design rules for single molecule circuits.
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Affiliation(s)
- Narendra P Arasu
- Institute of Physics Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Cukrovarnická 10, 16200, Prague, Czech Republic.,Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, Ke Karlovu 5, 12000, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Héctor Vázquez
- Institute of Physics Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Cukrovarnická 10, 16200, Prague, Czech Republic
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20
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Zhou P, Zheng J, Han T, Chen L, Cao W, Zhu Y, Zhou D, Li R, Tian Y, Liu Z, Liu J, Hong W. Electrostatic gating of single-molecule junctions based on the STM-BJ technique. NANOSCALE 2021; 13:7600-7605. [PMID: 33928979 DOI: 10.1039/d1nr00157d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
The gating of charge transport through single-molecule junctions is considered a critical step towards molecular circuits but remains challenging. In this work, we report an electrostatic gating method to tune the conductance of single-molecule junctions using the scanning tunneling microscope break junction (STM-BJ) technique incorporated with a back-gated chip as a substrate. We demonstrated that the conductance varied at different applied gating voltages (Vgs). The HOMO-dominated molecules show a decrease in conductance with an increase in Vg, and the LUMO-dominated molecules show the opposite trend. The measured conductance trends with Vg are consistent with the transition voltage spectroscopy measurements. Moreover, the transmission functions simulated from density functional theory (DFT) calculations and the finite element analysis all suggest that Vg changed the energy alignment of the molecular junction. This work provides a simple method for modulating the molecular orbitals' alignment relative to the Fermi energy (Ef) of metal electrodes to explore the charge transport properties at the single-molecule scale.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ping Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, iChEM, Xiamen University, 361005, Xiamen, China.
| | - Jueting Zheng
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, iChEM, Xiamen University, 361005, Xiamen, China.
| | - Tianyang Han
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, iChEM, Xiamen University, 361005, Xiamen, China.
| | - Lijue Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, iChEM, Xiamen University, 361005, Xiamen, China.
| | - Wenqiang Cao
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, iChEM, Xiamen University, 361005, Xiamen, China.
| | - Yixuan Zhu
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, iChEM, Xiamen University, 361005, Xiamen, China.
| | - Dahai Zhou
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, iChEM, Xiamen University, 361005, Xiamen, China.
| | - Ruihao Li
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, iChEM, Xiamen University, 361005, Xiamen, China.
| | - Yingyu Tian
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, iChEM, Xiamen University, 361005, Xiamen, China.
| | - Zitong Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Applied Organic Chemistry (SKLAOC), College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, P. R. China
| | - Junyang Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, iChEM, Xiamen University, 361005, Xiamen, China.
| | - Wenjing Hong
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, iChEM, Xiamen University, 361005, Xiamen, China.
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21
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Palomino‐Ruiz L, Rodríguez‐González S, Fallaque JG, Márquez IR, Agraït N, Díaz C, Leary E, Cuerva JM, Campaña AG, Martín F, Millán A, González MT. Single‐Molecule Conductance of 1,4‐Azaborine Derivatives as Models of BN‐doped PAHs. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2021. [DOI: 10.1002/ange.202014194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/10/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Lucía Palomino‐Ruiz
- Departamento de Química Orgánica Facultad de Ciencias Unidad de Excelencia de Química Aplicada a Biomedicina y Medioambiente (UEQ) Universidad de Granada 18071 Granada Spain
- Fundación IMDEA Nanociencia 28049 Madrid Spain
| | - Sandra Rodríguez‐González
- Departamento de Química, Módulo 13 Universidad Autónoma de Madrid 28049 Madrid Spain
- Present address: Departamento de Química Física Facultad de Ciencias Universidad de Málaga 29071 Málaga Spain
| | | | - Irene R. Márquez
- Departamento de Química Orgánica Facultad de Ciencias Unidad de Excelencia de Química Aplicada a Biomedicina y Medioambiente (UEQ) Universidad de Granada 18071 Granada Spain
- Centro de Instrumentación Científica Universidad de Granada 18071 Granada Spain
| | - Nicolás Agraït
- Fundación IMDEA Nanociencia 28049 Madrid Spain
- Departamento de Física de la Materia Condensada Universidad Autónoma de Madrid 28049 Madrid Spain
- Condensed Matter Physics Center (IFIMAC) Universidad Autónoma de Madrid 28049 Madrid Spain
| | - Cristina Díaz
- Departamento de Química, Módulo 13 Universidad Autónoma de Madrid 28049 Madrid Spain
- Present address: Departamento de Química Física Facultad de CC. Químicas Universidad Complutense de Madrid 28040 Madrid Spain
| | | | - Juan M. Cuerva
- Departamento de Química Orgánica Facultad de Ciencias Unidad de Excelencia de Química Aplicada a Biomedicina y Medioambiente (UEQ) Universidad de Granada 18071 Granada Spain
| | - Araceli G. Campaña
- Departamento de Química Orgánica Facultad de Ciencias Unidad de Excelencia de Química Aplicada a Biomedicina y Medioambiente (UEQ) Universidad de Granada 18071 Granada Spain
| | - Fernando Martín
- Fundación IMDEA Nanociencia 28049 Madrid Spain
- Departamento de Química, Módulo 13 Universidad Autónoma de Madrid 28049 Madrid Spain
- Condensed Matter Physics Center (IFIMAC) Universidad Autónoma de Madrid 28049 Madrid Spain
| | - Alba Millán
- Departamento de Química Orgánica Facultad de Ciencias Unidad de Excelencia de Química Aplicada a Biomedicina y Medioambiente (UEQ) Universidad de Granada 18071 Granada Spain
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22
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Valdiviezo J, Rocha P, Polakovsky A, Palma JL. Nonexponential Length Dependence of Molecular Conductance in Acene-Based Molecular Wires. ACS Sens 2021; 6:477-484. [PMID: 33411533 DOI: 10.1021/acssensors.0c02049] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/25/2023]
Abstract
In the nonresonant regime, molecular conductance decays exponentially with distance, limiting the fabrication of efficient molecular semiconductors at the nanoscale. In this work, we calculate the conductance of a series of acene derivatives connected to gold electrodes using density functional theory (DFT) combined with the nonequilibrium Green's function (NEGF) formalism. We show that these systems have near length-independent conductance and can exhibit a conductance increase with molecular length depending on the connection to the electrodes. The analysis of the molecular orbital energies and transmission functions attribute this behavior to the dramatic decrease of the highest occupied molecular orbital-lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (HOMO-LUMO) gap with length, which shifts the transmission peaks near the Fermi level. These results demonstrate that the anchoring configuration determines the conductance behavior of acene derivatives, which are optimal building blocks to fabricate single-molecule devices with tunable charge transport properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesús Valdiviezo
- Department of Chemistry, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States
| | - Paulina Rocha
- School of Engineering and Sciences, Tecnologico de Monterrey, Monterrey, Nuevo Leon 64849, Mexico
| | - Anastazia Polakovsky
- Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University Fayette, The Eberly Campus, Lemont Furnace, Pennsylvania 15456, United States
| | - Julio L. Palma
- Department of Chemistry, The Pennsylvania State University Fayette, The Eberly Campus, Lemont Furnace, Pennsylvania 15456, United States
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23
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Palomino-Ruiz L, Rodríguez-González S, Fallaque JG, Márquez IR, Agraït N, Díaz C, Leary E, Cuerva JM, Campaña AG, Martín F, Millán A, González MT. Single-Molecule Conductance of 1,4-Azaborine Derivatives as Models of BN-doped PAHs. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2021; 60:6609-6616. [PMID: 33348468 DOI: 10.1002/anie.202014194] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2020] [Revised: 12/02/2020] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
The single-molecule conductance of a series of BN-acene-like derivatives has been measured by using scanning tunneling break-junction techniques. A strategic design of the target molecules has allowed us to include azaborine units in positions that unambiguously ensure electron transport through both heteroatoms, which is relevant for the development of customized BN-doped nanographenes. We show that the conductance of the anthracene azaborine derivative is comparable to that of the pristine all-carbon anthracene compound. Notably, this heteroatom substitution has also allowed us to perform similar measurements on the corresponding pentacene-like compound, which is found to have a similar conductance, thus evidencing that B-N doping could also be used to stabilize and characterize larger acenes for molecular electronics applications. Our conclusions are supported by state-of-the-art transport calculations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lucía Palomino-Ruiz
- Departamento de Química Orgánica, Facultad de Ciencias, Unidad de Excelencia de Química Aplicada a Biomedicina y Medioambiente (UEQ), Universidad de Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain.,Fundación IMDEA Nanociencia, 28049, Madrid, Spain
| | - Sandra Rodríguez-González
- Departamento de Química, Módulo 13, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain.,Present address: Departamento de Química Física, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Málaga, 29071, Málaga, Spain
| | | | - Irene R Márquez
- Departamento de Química Orgánica, Facultad de Ciencias, Unidad de Excelencia de Química Aplicada a Biomedicina y Medioambiente (UEQ), Universidad de Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain.,Centro de Instrumentación Científica, Universidad de Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain
| | - Nicolás Agraït
- Fundación IMDEA Nanociencia, 28049, Madrid, Spain.,Departamento de Física de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain.,Condensed Matter Physics Center (IFIMAC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain
| | - Cristina Díaz
- Departamento de Química, Módulo 13, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain.,Present address: Departamento de Química Física, Facultad de CC. Químicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040, Madrid, Spain
| | - Edmund Leary
- Fundación IMDEA Nanociencia, 28049, Madrid, Spain
| | - Juan M Cuerva
- Departamento de Química Orgánica, Facultad de Ciencias, Unidad de Excelencia de Química Aplicada a Biomedicina y Medioambiente (UEQ), Universidad de Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain
| | - Araceli G Campaña
- Departamento de Química Orgánica, Facultad de Ciencias, Unidad de Excelencia de Química Aplicada a Biomedicina y Medioambiente (UEQ), Universidad de Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain
| | - Fernando Martín
- Fundación IMDEA Nanociencia, 28049, Madrid, Spain.,Departamento de Química, Módulo 13, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain.,Condensed Matter Physics Center (IFIMAC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, 28049, Madrid, Spain
| | - Alba Millán
- Departamento de Química Orgánica, Facultad de Ciencias, Unidad de Excelencia de Química Aplicada a Biomedicina y Medioambiente (UEQ), Universidad de Granada, 18071, Granada, Spain
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24
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Liu Y, Ornago L, Carlotti M, Ai Y, El Abbassi M, Soni S, Asyuda A, Zharnikov M, van der Zant HSJ, Chiechi RC. Intermolecular Effects on Tunneling through Acenes in Large-Area and Single-Molecule Junctions. THE JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY. C, NANOMATERIALS AND INTERFACES 2020; 124:22776-22783. [PMID: 33093933 PMCID: PMC7569675 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.0c05781] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2020] [Revised: 09/14/2020] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
This paper describes the conductance of single-molecules and self-assembled monolayers comprising an oligophenyleneethynylene core, functionalized with acenes of increasing length that extend conjugation perpendicular to the path of tunneling electrons. In the Mechanically Controlled Break Junction (MCBJ) experiment, multiple conductance plateaus were identified. The high conductance plateau, which we attribute to the single molecule conformation, shows an increase of conductance as a function of acene length, in good agreement with theoretical predictions. The lower plateau is attributed to multiple molecules bridging the junctions with intermolecular interactions playing a role. In junctions comprising a self-assembled monolayer with eutectic Ga-In top-contacts (EGaIn), the pentacene derivative exhibits unusually low conductance, which we ascribe to the inability of these molecules to pack in a monolayer without introducing significant intermolecular contacts. This hypothesis is supported by the MCBJ data and theoretical calculations showing suppressed conductance through the PC films. These results highlight the role of intermolecular effects and junction geometries in the observed fluctuations of conductance values between single-molecule and ensemble junctions, and the importance of studying molecules in both platforms.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuru Liu
- Stratingh
Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Luca Ornago
- Kavli
Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University
of Technology, Lorentzweg 1, Delft, 2628 CJ The Netherlands
| | - Marco Carlotti
- Stratingh
Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Yong Ai
- Stratingh
Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Maria El Abbassi
- Kavli
Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University
of Technology, Lorentzweg 1, Delft, 2628 CJ The Netherlands
| | - Saurabh Soni
- Stratingh
Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Andika Asyuda
- Angewandte
Physikalische Chemie, Universität
Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 253, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Michael Zharnikov
- Angewandte
Physikalische Chemie, Universität
Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 253, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Herre S. J. van der Zant
- Kavli
Institute of Nanoscience, Delft University
of Technology, Lorentzweg 1, Delft, 2628 CJ The Netherlands
| | - Ryan C. Chiechi
- Stratingh
Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, University
of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
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25
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Liu J, Segal D. Sharp Negative Differential Resistance from Vibrational Mode Softening in Molecular Junctions. NANO LETTERS 2020; 20:6128-6134. [PMID: 32574500 DOI: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.0c02230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
We unravel the critical role of vibrational mode softening in single-molecule electronic devices at high bias. Our theoretical analysis is carried out with a minimal model for molecular junctions, with mode softening arising due to quadratic electron-vibration couplings, and by developing a mean-field approach. We discover that the negative sign of the quadratic electron-vibration coupling coefficient can realize, at high voltage, a sharp negative differential resistance (NDR) effect with a large peak-to-valley ratio. Calculated current-voltage characteristics, obtained based on physical parameters for a nitro-substituted oligo(phenylene ethynylene) junction, agree very well with the measurements. Our results establish that vibrational mode softening is a crucial effect at high voltage, underlying NDR, a substantial diode effect, and the breakdown of current-carrying molecular junctions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junjie Liu
- Department of Chemistry and Centre for Quantum Information and Quantum Control, University of Toronto, 80 Saint George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada
| | - Dvira Segal
- Department of Chemistry and Centre for Quantum Information and Quantum Control, University of Toronto, 80 Saint George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3H6, Canada
- Department of Physics, University of Toronto, 60 Saint George Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A7, Canada
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26
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Iv M, Peskin U. Ballistic transport and quantum unfurling in molecular junctions via minimal representations of quantum master equations. J Chem Phys 2020; 152:184112. [PMID: 32414262 DOI: 10.1063/5.0005412] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Quantum furling and unfurling are inelastic transitions between localized and delocalized electronic states. We predict scenarios where these processes govern charge transport through donor-bridge-acceptor molecular junctions. Like in the case of ballistic transport, the resulting currents are nearly independent of the molecular bridge length. However, currents involving quantum furling and unfurling processes can be controlled by the coupling to vibrations in the intra-molecular and the extra-molecular environment, which can be experimentally tuned. Our study is based on rate equations for exchange of energy (bosons) and particles (fermions) between the molecular bridge and its environment. An efficient algorithm is introduced for a compact representation of the relevant rate equations, which utilizes the redundancies in the rate matrix and the sparsity of the creation and annihilation operators in the molecular Fock space.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael Iv
- Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
| | - Uri Peskin
- Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
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27
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Meng M, Tang Z, Mallick S, Luo MH, Tan Z, Liu JY, Shi J, Yang Y, Liu CY, Hong W. Enhanced charge transport via d(δ)-p(π) conjugation in Mo 2-integrated single-molecule junctions. NANOSCALE 2020; 12:10320-10327. [PMID: 32367099 DOI: 10.1039/d0nr00195c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/11/2023]
Abstract
A trans-dimolybdenum nicotinate (m-Mo2) complex and its isonicotinate isomer (p-Mo2) were synthesized and characterized crystallographically, and their single-molecule charge transport properties were investigated using the STM break junction (STM-BJ) technique. With a quadruply bonded Mo2 complex unit integrated into molecular backbones, the single-molecule conductance for complex molecules was increased by more than one order of magnitude compared with that of the organic π-conjugated analogues 1,4-bis(4-pyridyl)benzene (p-Ph) and 1,4-bis(3-pyridyl)benzene (m-Ph). More interestingly, unlike m-Ph, m-Mo2 with meta connected pyridyl anchors presents larger conductance than that of p-Mo2 with two para connected pyridyl groups. DFT-based transmission calculations revealed that the significant conductance enhancement of Mo2 molecules originates from the largely reduced HOMO-LUMO gap, and the unique d(δ)-p(π) conjugation between the Mo2 unit and the pyridine rings gives rise to a delocalized electronic structure that endows the Mo2 molecules with an unexpected high conductance.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miao Meng
- Department of Chemistry, Jinan University, 601 Huang-Pu Avenue West, Guangzhou 510632, China.
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28
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Zhao S, Wu Q, Pi J, Liu J, Zheng J, Hou S, Wei J, Li R, Sadeghi H, Yang Y, Shi J, Chen Z, Xiao Z, Lambert C, Hong W. Cross-plane transport in a single-molecule two-dimensional van der Waals heterojunction. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2020; 6:eaba6714. [PMID: 32524003 PMCID: PMC7259930 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aba6714] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/21/2019] [Accepted: 03/31/2020] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
Two-dimensional van der Waals heterojunctions (2D-vdWHs) stacked from atomically thick 2D materials are predicted to be a diverse class of electronic materials with unique electronic properties. These properties can be further tuned by sandwiching monolayers of planar organic molecules between 2D materials to form molecular 2D-vdWHs (M-2D-vdWHs), in which electricity flows in a cross-plane way from one 2D layer to the other via a single molecular layer. Using a newly developed cross-plane break junction technique, combined with density functional theory calculations, we show that M-2D-vdWHs can be created and that cross-plane charge transport can be tuned by incorporating guest molecules. The M-2D-vdWHs exhibit distinct cross-plane charge transport signatures, which differ from those of molecules undergoing in-plane charge transport.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiqiang Zhao
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, iChEM, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Qingqing Wu
- Department of Physics, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YB, UK
| | - Jiuchan Pi
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, iChEM, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Junyang Liu
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, iChEM, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Jueting Zheng
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, iChEM, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Songjun Hou
- Department of Physics, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YB, UK
| | - Junying Wei
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, iChEM, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Ruihao Li
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, iChEM, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Hatef Sadeghi
- Department of Physics, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YB, UK
| | - Yang Yang
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, iChEM, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
- Innovation Laboratory for Sciences and Technologies of Energy Materials of Fujian Province (IKKEM), Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Jia Shi
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, iChEM, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Zhaobin Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, iChEM, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Zongyuan Xiao
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, iChEM, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
- Innovation Laboratory for Sciences and Technologies of Energy Materials of Fujian Province (IKKEM), Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
| | - Colin Lambert
- Department of Physics, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YB, UK
| | - Wenjing Hong
- State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, iChEM, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering & Pen-Tung Sah Institute of Micro-Nano Science and Technology, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
- Innovation Laboratory for Sciences and Technologies of Energy Materials of Fujian Province (IKKEM), Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China
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29
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Bi H, Palma CA, Gong Y, Stallhofer K, Nuber M, Jing C, Meggendorfer F, Wen S, Yam C, Kienberger R, Elbing M, Mayor M, Iglev H, Barth JV, Reichert J. Electron–Phonon Coupling in Current-Driven Single-Molecule Junctions. J Am Chem Soc 2020; 142:3384-3391. [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.9b07757] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hai Bi
- Physics Department, Technical University of Munich, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Carlos-Andres Palma
- Physics Department, Technical University of Munich, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
- Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100190 Beijing, P. R. China
- Department of Physics & IRIS Adlershof, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Newtonstr. 15, 12489 Berlin, Germany
| | - Yuxiang Gong
- Physics Department, Technical University of Munich, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Klara Stallhofer
- Physics Department, Technical University of Munich, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Matthias Nuber
- Physics Department, Technical University of Munich, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Chao Jing
- Physics Department, Technical University of Munich, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Felix Meggendorfer
- Physics Department, Technical University of Munich, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Shizheng Wen
- Beijing Computational Science Research Center, 100084 Beijing, P. R. China
| | - ChiYung Yam
- Beijing Computational Science Research Center, 100084 Beijing, P. R. China
| | - Reinhard Kienberger
- Physics Department, Technical University of Munich, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Mark Elbing
- Department of Applied Natural Sciences, TH Lübeck, Mönkhofer Weg 239, 23562 Lübeck, Germany
| | - Marcel Mayor
- Institute of Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Karlsruhe, Germany
- Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, St Johannsring 19, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Hristo Iglev
- Physics Department, Technical University of Munich, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Johannes V. Barth
- Physics Department, Technical University of Munich, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Joachim Reichert
- Physics Department, Technical University of Munich, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
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30
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Nonmagnetic single-molecule spin-filter based on quantum interference. Nat Commun 2019; 10:5565. [PMID: 31804498 PMCID: PMC6895237 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-13537-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 39] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2019] [Accepted: 11/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Key spin transport phenomena, including magnetoresistance and spin transfer torque, cannot be activated without spin-polarized currents, in which one electron spin is dominant. At the nanoscale, the relevant length-scale for modern spintronics, spin current generation is rather limited due to unwanted contributions from poorly spin-polarized frontier states in ferromagnetic electrodes, or too short length-scales for efficient spin splitting by spin-orbit interaction and magnetic fields. Here, we show that spin-polarized currents can be generated in silver-vanadocene-silver single molecule junctions without magnetic components or magnetic fields. In some cases, the measured spin currents approach the limit of ideal ballistic spin transport. Comparison between conductance and shot-noise measurements to detailed calculations reveals a mechanism based on spin-dependent quantum interference that yields very efficient spin filtering. Our findings pave the way for nanoscale spintronics based on quantum interference, with the advantages of low sensitivity to decoherence effects and the freedom to use non-magnetic materials.
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31
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Kumar S, Soni S, Danowski W, Leach IF, Faraji S, Feringa BL, Rudolf P, Chiechi RC. Eliminating Fatigue in Surface-Bound Spiropyrans. THE JOURNAL OF PHYSICAL CHEMISTRY. C, NANOMATERIALS AND INTERFACES 2019; 123:25908-25914. [PMID: 31673304 PMCID: PMC6816012 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.9b05889] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2019] [Revised: 09/24/2019] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
This paper describes an experimental approach to eliminating the loss of reversibility that surface-bound spiropyrans exhibit when switched with light. Although such fatigue can be controlled in other contexts, on surfaces, the photochromic compounds are held in close proximity to each other and relatively few molecules modulate the properties of a device, leading to a loss of functionality after only a few switching cycles. The switching process was characterized by photoelectron spectroscopy and differences in tunneling currents in the spiropyran and merocyanine forms using eutectic Ga-In. Self-assembled monolayers comprising only the photochromic compounds degraded rapidly, while mixed monolayers with hexanethiol showed different behaviors depending on the relative humidity. Under dry conditions, no chemical degradation was observed and the switching process was reversible over at least 100 cycles. Under humid conditions, no degradation occurred, but the switching process became irreversible. The absence of degradation observed in mixed monolayers is ascribed to the lack of solvation, which increases the barrier to a key bond rotation past the available thermal energy. These results highlight important differences in the contexts in which photochromic compounds are utilized and demonstrate that they can be leveraged to extract device-relevant functionality from surface-bound switches by suppressing fatigue and irreversibility.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sumit Kumar
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
- Stratingh
Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Saurabh Soni
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
- Stratingh
Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Wojciech Danowski
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
- Stratingh
Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Isaac F. Leach
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Shirin Faraji
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Ben L. Feringa
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
- Stratingh
Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Petra Rudolf
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Ryan C. Chiechi
- Zernike
Institute for Advanced Materials, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
- Stratingh
Institute for Chemistry, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands
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32
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Levine AD, Peskin U. Contact interference in molecular junctions. Mol Phys 2019. [DOI: 10.1080/00268976.2019.1584339] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
| | - Uri Peskin
- Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Haifa, Israel
- The Technion Grand Energy Program, Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
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33
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Jasper-Tönnies T, Garcia-Lekue A, Frederiksen T, Ulrich S, Herges R, Berndt R. High-conductance contacts to functionalized molecular platforms physisorbed on Au(1 1 1). JOURNAL OF PHYSICS. CONDENSED MATTER : AN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS JOURNAL 2019; 31:18LT01. [PMID: 30721893 DOI: 10.1088/1361-648x/ab0489] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
The conductances of molecules physisorbed to Au(1 1 1) via an extended [Formula: see text] system are probed with the tip of a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope to maximize the control of the junction geometry. Inert hydrogen, methyl, and reactive propynyl subunits were attached to the platform and stand upright. Because of their different reactivities, either non-bonding (hydrogen and methyl) or bonding (propynyl) tip-molecule contacts are formed. The conductances exhibit little scatter between different experimental runs on different molecules, display distinct evolutions with the tip-subunit distance, and reach contact values of 0.003-0.05 G 0. For equal tip-platform distances the contact conductance of the inert methyl is close to that of the reactive propynyl. Under further compression, the inert species, hydrogen and methyl, are found to be better conductors. This shows that the current flow is not directly correlated with the chemical interaction. Atomistic calculations for the methyl case reproduce the conductance evolution and reveal the role of the junction geometry, forces and orbital symmetries at the tip-molecule interface. The current flow is controlled by orbital symmetries at the electrode interfaces rather than by the energy alignment of the molecular orbitals and electrode states. Functionalized molecular platforms thus open new ways to control and engineer electron conduction through metal-molecule interfaces at the atomic level.
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Affiliation(s)
- Torben Jasper-Tönnies
- Institut für Experimentelle und Angewandte Physik, Christian-Albrechts-Universität, 24098 Kiel, Germany
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34
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Gryn'ova G, Corminboeuf C. Topology-Driven Single-Molecule Conductance of Carbon Nanothreads. J Phys Chem Lett 2019; 10:825-830. [PMID: 30668127 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jpclett.8b03556] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Highly conductive single-molecule junctions typically involve π-conjugated molecular bridges, whose frontier molecular orbital energy levels can be fine-tuned to best match the Fermi level of the leads. Fully saturated wires, e.g., alkanes, are typically thought of as insulating rather than highly conductive. However, in this work, we demonstrate in silico that significant zero-bias conductance can be achieved in such systems by means of topology. Specifically, caged saturated hydrocarbons offering multiple σ-conductance channels afford transmission far beyond what could be expected based upon conventional superposition laws, particularly if these pathways are composed entirely from quaternary carbon atoms. Computed conductance of molecular bridges based on carbon nanothreads, e.g., polytwistane, is not only of appreciable magnitude; it also shows a very slow decay with increasing nanogap, similarly to the case of π-conjugated wires. These findings offer a way to manipulate the transport properties of molecular systems by means of their topology, alternatively to the traditionally invoked electronic structure.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ganna Gryn'ova
- Laboratory for Computational Molecular Design, Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering , École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne , CH-1015 Lausanne , Switzerland
| | - Clémence Corminboeuf
- Laboratory for Computational Molecular Design, Institute of Chemical Sciences and Engineering , École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne , CH-1015 Lausanne , Switzerland
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35
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Liu J, Zhao X, Zheng J, Huang X, Tang Y, Wang F, Li R, Pi J, Huang C, Wang L, Yang Y, Shi J, Mao BW, Tian ZQ, Bryce MR, Hong W. Transition from Tunneling Leakage Current to Molecular Tunneling in Single-Molecule Junctions. Chem 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.chempr.2018.11.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
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36
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Xie Z, Bâldea I, Frisbie CD. Determination of Energy-Level Alignment in Molecular Tunnel Junctions by Transport and Spectroscopy: Self-Consistency for the Case of Oligophenylene Thiols and Dithiols on Ag, Au, and Pt Electrodes. J Am Chem Soc 2019; 141:3670-3681. [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.8b13370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 11.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Zuoti Xie
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
| | - Ioan Bâldea
- Theoretische Chemie, Universität Heidelberg, INF 229, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany
| | - C. Daniel Frisbie
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455, United States
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Dupuy N, Casula M. Fate of the open-shell singlet ground state in the experimentally accessible acenes: A quantum Monte Carlo study. J Chem Phys 2018; 148:134112. [DOI: 10.1063/1.5016494] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas Dupuy
- Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie (IMPMC), Sorbonne Université, CNRS UMR 7590, IRD UMR 206, MNHN, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris, France
| | - Michele Casula
- Institut de Minéralogie, de Physique des Matériaux et de Cosmochimie (IMPMC), Sorbonne Université, CNRS UMR 7590, IRD UMR 206, MNHN, 4 Place Jussieu, 75252 Paris, France
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38
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Bi H, Palma CA, Gong Y, Hasch P, Elbing M, Mayor M, Reichert J, Barth JV. Voltage-Driven Conformational Switching with Distinct Raman Signature in a Single-Molecule Junction. J Am Chem Soc 2018; 140:4835-4840. [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b12818] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Hai Bi
- Physics Department E20, Technical University of Munich, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Carlos-Andres Palma
- Physics Department E20, Technical University of Munich, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
- Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 100190 Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Yuxiang Gong
- Physics Department E20, Technical University of Munich, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Peter Hasch
- Physics Department E20, Technical University of Munich, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Mark Elbing
- Department of Applied Natural Sciences, Lübeck University of Applied Sciences, Mönkhofer Weg 239, 23562 Lübeck, Germany
| | - Marcel Mayor
- Institute of Nanotechnology (INT), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz-Platz 1, 76344 Karlsruhe, Germany
- Department of Chemistry, University of Basel, St Johannsring 19, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Joachim Reichert
- Physics Department E20, Technical University of Munich, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
| | - Johannes V. Barth
- Physics Department E20, Technical University of Munich, James-Franck-Str. 1, 85748 Garching, Germany
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Pan R, Yang Y, Wang Y, Li S, Liu Z, Su Y, Quan B, Li Y, Gu C, Li J. Nanocracking and metallization doubly defined large-scale 3D plasmonic sub-10 nm-gap arrays as extremely sensitive SERS substrates. NANOSCALE 2018; 10:3171-3180. [PMID: 29364303 DOI: 10.1039/c7nr08646f] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Considering the technological difficulties in the existing approaches to form nanoscale gaps, a convenient method to fabricate three-dimensional (3D) sub-10 nm Ag/SiNx gap arrays has been demonstrated in this study, controlled by a combination of stress-induced nanocracking of a SiNx nanobridge and Ag nanofilm deposition. This scalable 3D plasmonic nanogap is specially suspended above a substrate, having a tunable nanogap width and large height-to-width ratio to form a nanocavity underneath. As a surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) substrate, the 3D Ag/SiNx nanogap shows a large Raman enhancement factor of ∼108 and extremely high sensitivity for the detection of Rhodamine 6G (R6G) molecules, even down to 10-16 M, indicating an extraordinary capability for single-molecule detection. Further, we verified that the Fabry-Perot resonance occurred in the deep SiNx nanocavity under the Ag nanogap and contributed prominently to a tremendous enhancement of the local field in the Ag-nanogap zone and hence ultrasensitive SERS detection. This method circumvents the technological limitations to fabricate a sub-10 nm metal nanogap with unique features for wide applications in important scientific and technological areas.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruhao Pan
- Beijing National Laboratory for Condensed Matter Physics, Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
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Magyarkuti A, Adak O, Halbritter A, Venkataraman L. Electronic and mechanical characteristics of stacked dimer molecular junctions. NANOSCALE 2018; 10:3362-3368. [PMID: 29388658 DOI: 10.1039/c7nr08354h] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Break-junction measurements are typically aimed at characterizing electronic properties of single molecules bound between two metal electrodes. Although these measurements have provided structure-function relationships for such devices, there is little work that studies the impact of molecule-molecule interactions on junction characteristics. Here, we use a scanning tunneling microscope based break-junction technique to study pi-stacked dimer junctions formed with two amine-terminated conjugated molecules. We show that the conductance, force and flicker noise of such dimers differ dramatically when compared with the corresponding monomer junctions and discuss the implications of these results on intra- and inter-molecular charge transport.
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Affiliation(s)
- András Magyarkuti
- Department of Physics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics and MTA-BME Condensed Matter Research Group, 1111 Budapest, Budafoki ut 8., Hungary.
| | - Olgun Adak
- Department of Applied Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA.
| | - Andras Halbritter
- Department of Physics, Budapest University of Technology and Economics and MTA-BME Condensed Matter Research Group, 1111 Budapest, Budafoki ut 8., Hungary.
| | - Latha Venkataraman
- Department of Applied Physics, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA. and Department of Chemistry, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027, USA
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41
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Thoss M, Evers F. Perspective: Theory of quantum transport in molecular junctions. J Chem Phys 2018; 148:030901. [DOI: 10.1063/1.5003306] [Citation(s) in RCA: 105] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Michael Thoss
- Institute of Physics, University of Freiburg, Hermann-Herder-Str. 3, D-79104 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Ferdinand Evers
- Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Regensburg, Universitätsstr. 31, D-93053 Regensburg, Germany
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42
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Watanabe M, Miyazaki T, Matsushima T, Matsuda J, Chein CT, Shibahara M, Adachi C, Sun SS, Chow TJ, Ishihara T. Synthesis and physical properties of brominated hexacene and hole-transfer properties of thin-film transistors. RSC Adv 2018; 8:13259-13265. [PMID: 35542556 PMCID: PMC9079830 DOI: 10.1039/c7ra13632c] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/25/2017] [Accepted: 03/13/2018] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
A halide-substituted higher acene, 2-bromohexacene, and its precursor with a carbonyl bridge moiety were synthesized. The precursor was synthesized through 7 steps in a total yield of 2.5%. The structure of precursor and thermally converted 2-bromohexacene were characterized by solid state NMR, IR, and absorption spectra, as well as by DFT computation analysis. It exhibited high stability in the solid state over 3 months, therefore can be utilized in the fabrication of opto-electronic devices. The organic thin-film transistors (OFETs) were fabricated by using 2-bromohexacene and parent hexacene through vaccum deposition method. The best film mobility of 2-bromohexacene was observed at 0.83 cm2 V−1 s−1 with an on/off ratio of 5.0 × 104 and a threshold of −52 V, while the best film mobility of hexacene was observed at 0.076 cm2 V−1 s−1 with an on/off ratio of 2.4 × 102 and a threshold of −21 V. AFM measurement of 2-bromohexacene showed smooth film formation. The averaged mobility of 2-bromohexacene is 8 fold higher than the non-substituted hexacene. A halide-substituted higher acene, 2-bromohexacene, and its precursor with a carbonyl bridge moiety were synthesized.![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Motonori Watanabe
- International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research
- Kyushu University
- Fukuoka 819-0395
- Japan
| | - Takaaki Miyazaki
- Education Center for Global Leaders in Molecular Systems for Devices
- Kyushu University
- Fukuoka 819-0395
- Japan
| | - Toshinori Matsushima
- International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research
- Kyushu University
- Fukuoka 819-0395
- Japan
- Center for Organic Photonics and Electronics Research (OPERA)
| | - Junko Matsuda
- International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research
- Kyushu University
- Fukuoka 819-0395
- Japan
| | | | - Masahiko Shibahara
- Division of Natural Sciences
- Faculty of Science and Technology
- Oita University
- Oita
- Japan
| | - Chihaya Adachi
- International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research
- Kyushu University
- Fukuoka 819-0395
- Japan
- Education Center for Global Leaders in Molecular Systems for Devices
| | | | - Tahsin J. Chow
- Institute of Chemistry
- Academia Sinica
- Taipei 11529
- Taiwan
- Department of Chemistry
| | - Tatsumi Ishihara
- International Institute for Carbon Neutral Energy Research
- Kyushu University
- Fukuoka 819-0395
- Japan
- Department of Applied Chemistry
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43
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Pal AN, Klein T, Vilan A, Tal O. Electronic conduction during the formation stages of a single-molecule junction. BEILSTEIN JOURNAL OF NANOTECHNOLOGY 2018; 9:1471-1477. [PMID: 29977680 PMCID: PMC6009221 DOI: 10.3762/bjnano.9.138] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/25/2017] [Accepted: 04/04/2018] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Single-molecule junctions are versatile test beds for electronic transport at the atomic scale. However, not much is known about the early formation steps of such junctions. Here, we study the electronic transport properties of premature junction configurations before the realization of a single-molecule bridge based on vanadocene molecules and silver electrodes. With the aid of conductance measurements, inelastic electron spectroscopy and shot noise analysis, we identify the formation of a single-molecule junction in parallel to a single-atom junction and examine the interplay between these two conductance pathways. Furthermore, the role of this structure in the formation of single-molecule junctions is studied. Our findings reveal the conductance and structural properties of premature molecular junction configurations and uncover the different scenarios in which a single-molecule junction is formed. Future control over such processes may pave the way for directed formation of preferred junction structures.
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Affiliation(s)
- Atindra Nath Pal
- Department of Chemical and Biological Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel
- Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Material Sciences, S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Block JD, Sector III, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700 106, India
| | - Tal Klein
- Department of Chemical and Biological Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel
| | - Ayelet Vilan
- Department of Chemical and Biological Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel
| | - Oren Tal
- Department of Chemical and Biological Physics, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot 7610001, Israel
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44
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Li H, Su TA, Camarasa‐Gómez M, Hernangómez‐Pérez D, Henn SE, Pokorný V, Caniglia CD, Inkpen MS, Korytár R, Steigerwald ML, Nuckolls C, Evers F, Venkataraman L. Silver Makes Better Electrical Contacts to Thiol‐Terminated Silanes than Gold. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2017. [DOI: 10.1002/ange.201708524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Haixing Li
- Department of Applied Physics and Chemistry Columbia University New York NY 10027 USA
| | - Timothy A. Su
- Department of Applied Physics and Chemistry Columbia University New York NY 10027 USA
| | - María Camarasa‐Gómez
- Institute of Theoretical Physics University of Regensburg 93040 Regensburg Germany
| | | | - Simon E. Henn
- Department of Applied Physics and Chemistry Columbia University New York NY 10027 USA
| | - Vladislav Pokorný
- Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Faculty of Math and Physics Charles University Ke Karlovu 5 121 16 Praha 2 Czech Republic
- Institute of Physics The Czech Academy of Sciences Na Slovance 2 18221 Prague 8 Czech Republic
| | | | - Michael S. Inkpen
- Department of Applied Physics and Chemistry Columbia University New York NY 10027 USA
| | - Richard Korytár
- Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Faculty of Math and Physics Charles University Ke Karlovu 5 121 16 Praha 2 Czech Republic
| | | | - Colin Nuckolls
- Department of Applied Physics and Chemistry Columbia University New York NY 10027 USA
| | - Ferdinand Evers
- Institute of Theoretical Physics University of Regensburg 93040 Regensburg Germany
| | - Latha Venkataraman
- Department of Applied Physics and Chemistry Columbia University New York NY 10027 USA
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45
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Li H, Su TA, Camarasa‐Gómez M, Hernangómez‐Pérez D, Henn SE, Pokorný V, Caniglia CD, Inkpen MS, Korytár R, Steigerwald ML, Nuckolls C, Evers F, Venkataraman L. Silver Makes Better Electrical Contacts to Thiol‐Terminated Silanes than Gold. Angew Chem Int Ed Engl 2017; 56:14145-14148. [DOI: 10.1002/anie.201708524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Haixing Li
- Department of Applied Physics and Chemistry Columbia University New York NY 10027 USA
| | - Timothy A. Su
- Department of Applied Physics and Chemistry Columbia University New York NY 10027 USA
| | - María Camarasa‐Gómez
- Institute of Theoretical Physics University of Regensburg 93040 Regensburg Germany
| | | | - Simon E. Henn
- Department of Applied Physics and Chemistry Columbia University New York NY 10027 USA
| | - Vladislav Pokorný
- Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Faculty of Math and Physics Charles University Ke Karlovu 5 121 16 Praha 2 Czech Republic
- Institute of Physics The Czech Academy of Sciences Na Slovance 2 18221 Prague 8 Czech Republic
| | | | - Michael S. Inkpen
- Department of Applied Physics and Chemistry Columbia University New York NY 10027 USA
| | - Richard Korytár
- Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Faculty of Math and Physics Charles University Ke Karlovu 5 121 16 Praha 2 Czech Republic
| | | | - Colin Nuckolls
- Department of Applied Physics and Chemistry Columbia University New York NY 10027 USA
| | - Ferdinand Evers
- Institute of Theoretical Physics University of Regensburg 93040 Regensburg Germany
| | - Latha Venkataraman
- Department of Applied Physics and Chemistry Columbia University New York NY 10027 USA
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46
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Zhou Q, Yamada A, Feng Q, Hoskins A, Dunietz BD, Lewis KM. Modification of Molecular Conductance by in Situ Deprotection of Thiol-Based Porphyrin. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2017; 9:15901-15906. [PMID: 28332399 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.6b14841] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/04/2023]
Abstract
Acetylthio-protected free base porphyrins are used to form scanning tunneling microscope-molecular break junctions. The porphyrin molecules are deprotected in situ, before the self-assembly. Two types of molecular junctions are formed in the junctions: Au-S-Por-SAc-Au and Au-S-Por-S-Au. Lower conductance values and higher conductance values are observed. Computational modeling attributes the lower conductance to the Au-S-Por-SAc-Au junctions and the higher conductance to the Au-S-Por-S-Au junctions. First-principles calculation suggests that the reduced conductance in the protected porphyrin originates from the presence of the acetyl end groups (-COCH3), rather than from the elongation of the sulfur-gold (S-Au) bonds at the tip-molecule interface.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qi Zhou
- Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute , Troy, New York 12180, United States
| | - Atsushi Yamada
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Kent State University , Kent, Ohio 44242, United States
| | - Qingguo Feng
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Kent State University , Kent, Ohio 44242, United States
| | - Austin Hoskins
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Kent State University , Kent, Ohio 44242, United States
| | - Barry D Dunietz
- Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Kent State University , Kent, Ohio 44242, United States
| | - Kim M Lewis
- Department of Physics, Applied Physics, and Astronomy, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute , Troy, New York 12180, United States
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47
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Beall E, Ulku S, Liu C, Wierzbinski E, Zhang Y, Bae Y, Zhang P, Achim C, Beratan DN, Waldeck DH. Effects of the Backbone and Chemical Linker on the Molecular Conductance of Nucleic Acid Duplexes. J Am Chem Soc 2017; 139:6726-6735. [PMID: 28434220 DOI: 10.1021/jacs.7b02260] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Scanning tunneling microscope break junction measurements are used to examine how the molecular conductance of nucleic acids depends on the composition of their backbone and the linker group to the electrodes. Molecular conductances of 10 base pair long homoduplexes of DNA, aeg-PNA, γ-PNA, and a heteroduplex of DNA/aeg-PNA with identical nucleobase sequence were measured. The molecular conductance was found to vary by 12 to 13 times with the change in backbone. Computational studies show that the molecular conductance differences between nucleic acids of different backbones correlate with differences in backbone structural flexibility. The molecular conductance was also measured for duplexes connected to the electrode through two different linkers, one directly to the backbone and one directly to the nucleobase stack. While the linker causes an order-of-magnitude increase in the overall conductance for a particular duplex, the differences in the electrical conductance with backbone composition are preserved. The highest molecular conductance value, 0.06G0, was measured for aeg-PNA duplexes with a base stack linker. These findings reveal an important new strategy for creating longer and more complex electroactive, nucleic acid assemblies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edward Beall
- Chemistry Department, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, United States
| | - Selma Ulku
- Chemistry Department, Carnegie Mellon University , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, United States
| | - Chaoren Liu
- Chemistry Department, Duke University , Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States
| | - Emil Wierzbinski
- Chemistry Department, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, United States
| | - Yuqi Zhang
- Chemistry Department, Duke University , Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States
| | - Yookyung Bae
- Chemistry Department, Carnegie Mellon University , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, United States
| | - Peng Zhang
- Chemistry Department, Duke University , Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States
| | - Catalina Achim
- Chemistry Department, Carnegie Mellon University , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213, United States
| | - David N Beratan
- Chemistry Department, Duke University , Durham, North Carolina 27708, United States
| | - David H Waldeck
- Chemistry Department, University of Pittsburgh , Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15260, United States
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49
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Einholz R, Fang T, Berger R, Grüninger P, Früh A, Chassé T, Fink RF, Bettinger HF. Heptacene: Characterization in Solution, in the Solid State, and in Films. J Am Chem Soc 2017; 139:4435-4442. [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.6b13212] [Citation(s) in RCA: 74] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Ralf Einholz
- Institut
für Organische Chemie, Universität Tübingen, Auf
der Morgenstelle 18, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Treliant Fang
- Flux Research Institute LLC, 11444 Rothschild Place, Dublin, California 94568, United States
| | - Robert Berger
- Fachbereich
Chemie, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Hans-Meerwein-Strasse 4, 35032 Marburg, Germany
- FIAS, Goethe-Universität, Ruth-Moufang-Strasse 1, 60438 Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Peter Grüninger
- Institut
für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 18, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Andreas Früh
- Institut
für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 18, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Thomas Chassé
- Institut
für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 18, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Reinhold F. Fink
- Institut
für Physikalische und Theoretische Chemie, Universität Tübingen, Auf der Morgenstelle 18, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
| | - Holger F. Bettinger
- Institut
für Organische Chemie, Universität Tübingen, Auf
der Morgenstelle 18, 72076 Tübingen, Germany
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50
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Schmitteckert P, Thomale R, Korytár R, Evers F. Incommensurate quantum-size oscillations in acene-based molecular wires—Effects of quantum fluctuations. J Chem Phys 2017. [DOI: 10.1063/1.4975319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Peter Schmitteckert
- Institute for Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, Julius-Maximilians University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Ronny Thomale
- Institute for Theoretical Physics and Astrophysics, Julius-Maximilians University of Würzburg, Am Hubland, 97074 Würzburg, Germany
| | - Richard Korytár
- Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany
- Department of Condensed Matter Physics, Faculty of Mathematics and Physics, Charles University, 121 16 Praha 2, Prague, Czech Republic
| | - Ferdinand Evers
- Institute of Theoretical Physics, University of Regensburg, 93040 Regensburg, Germany
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