Recent Advances in Molecular Scale Electronics

Modulation and Control of Charge Transport Through Single-Molecule Junctions

The ability to modulate and control charge transport though single-molecule junction devices is crucial to achieving the ultimate goal of molecular electronics: constructing real-world-applicable electronic components from single molecules. This review aims to highlight the progress made in single-molecule electronics, emphasizing the development of molecular junction electronics in recent years. Among many techniques that attempt to wire a molecule to metallic electrodes, the single-molecule break junction (SMBJ) technique is one of the most reliable and tunable experimental platforms for achieving metal-molecule-metal configurations. It also provides great freedom to tune charge transport through the junction. Soon after the SMBJ technique was introduced, it was extensively used to measure the conductances of individual molecules; however, different conductances were obtained for the same molecule, and it proved difficult to interpret this wide distribution of experimental data. This phenomenon was later found to be mainly due to a lack of precise experimental control and advanced data analysis methods. In recent years, researchers have directed considerable effort into advancing the SMBJ technique by gaining a deeper physical understanding of charge transport through single molecules and thus enhancing its potential applicability in functional molecular-scale electronic devices, such as molecular diodes and molecular transistors. In parallel with that research, novel data analysis methods and approaches that enable the discovery of hidden yet important features in the data are being developed. This review discusses various aspects of molecular junction electronics, from the initial goal of molecular electronics, the development of experimental techniques for creating single-molecule junctions and determining single-molecule conductance, to the characterization of functional current-voltage features and the investigation of physical properties other than charge transport. In addition, the development of advanced data analysis methods is considered, as they are critical to gaining detailed physical insight into the underlying transport mechanisms.

Relative Conductances of Alkaneselenolate and Alkanethiolate Monolayers on Au{111}

The electronic properties of alkanethiolate [CH3(CH2)nS-, n = 9 and 11] and alkaneselenolate [CH3(CH2)nSe-, n = 9 and 11] self-assembled monolayers on Au{111} have been quantitatively compared. Simultaneously acquired apparent tunneling barrier height (ATBH) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images reveal that alkanethiolate molecules have a lower barrier to tunneling, and therefore a higher conductance than alkaneselenolates of the same alkyl chain length. Molecular and contact conductance differences were elucidated by using observed STM topographic tunneling height differences between the analogous species. This apparent topographic difference combined with comparative ATBH data indicate that the observed decrease in conductance for alkaneselenolates compared to alkanethiolates originates exclusively from the Au-chalcogenide physical, chemical, and electronic contact.

Rotational actuators based on carbon nanotubes

Nanostructures are of great interest not only for their basic scientific richness, but also because they have the potential to revolutionize critical technologies. The miniaturization of electronic devices over the past century has profoundly affected human communication, computation, manufacturing and transportation systems. True molecular-scale electronic devices are now emerging that set the stage for future integrated nanoelectronics. Recently, there have been dramatic parallel advances in the miniaturization of mechanical and electromechanical devices. Commercial microelectromechanical systems now reach the submillimetre to micrometre size scale, and there is intense interest in the creation of next-generation synthetic nanometre-scale electromechanical systems. We report on the construction and successful operation of a fully synthetic nanoscale electromechanical actuator incorporating a rotatable metal plate, with a multi-walled carbon nanotube serving as the key motion-enabling element.