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Building electronic devices out of single molecules has been the ultimate goal of downscaling electric circuits. Understanding charge transport through single-molecule junctions is central to achieving this goal. To gain deeper insights into charge transport through single molecules, this dissertation centers on detailed experimental modulation and control of charge transport through single-molecule junctions using modified scanning probe microscope break-junction (SPM-BJ) techniques. First, I explored the effect of molecule-electrode contact interfaces. Using force-conductance cross-correlation analysis, I mapped out the correlation between conductance and force of modulated Au-octanedithiol-Au junctions measured with CAFM-BJ. The investigation of the conductance change during junction elongation showed a unique contact tunneling barrier of octanedithiol, which was interpreted by a newly developed contact barrier model. A systematic control of anchoring groups of benzene-based molecular junctions showed that current rectification occurred whenever asymmetric anchoring groups were introduced, which is mainly due to asymmetry in potential drop across the contacts. Second, I studied the impact of DNA's structural change on its conductance. The conductance of poly d(GC)4 DNA duplex was found to decrease by two orders of magnitude during a B- to Z-form structural transition, which is mainly attributed to the breaking of Ï0-Ï0 stacking between adjacent base pairs caused by the transition. Using stretch-hold mode STM-BJ technique, the structural transition was successfully monitored solely based on conductance measurements. Then, I attempted to modify the structure of DNA for functional I-V feature. A DNA-based molecular rectifier was for the first time constructed by site-specific intercalation of coralyne molecules into a custom-designed DNA duplex. Measured I-V curves of the resulting DNA-coralyne complex showed strong rectification with a rectification ratio of 15 at 1.1V. Based on NEGF-DFT calculations, this rectification is mainly caused by asymmetric coupling of the HOMO-1 level to the electrodes when an external bias is applied, an unprecedented rectification mechanism. Finally, Fermi level pinning of charge transfer resonances was investigated in junctions composed of terthiophene containing molecular wires. Taken together, these results not only provide new understanding of charge transport through molecules, they also opened new route for building functional molecular electronic devices.
The use of single molecules as circuit elements represents the ultimate in device miniaturization. The mechanically controlled break junction (MCBJ) technique is a commonly used method for the formation of metal-molecule-metal junctions. Using MCBJs, the electrical properties of single molecules can be investigated. In this thesis, an MCBJ experimental setup for the study of charge transport is described. Early investigations began with gold wire break junctions, eventually progressing to lithographically fabricated break junctions. In particular, the measurement electronics, LabVIEW programming and mechanical setup underwent significant revisions, leading to improvements in noise floor, sensitivity, and speed. The resulting setup is capable of measuring the charge transport properties of single molecule junctions accurately and at a high rate.
Understanding charge transport in single molecules covalently bonded to electrodes is a fundamental goal in the field of molecular electronics. In the past decade, it has become possible to measure charge transport on the single-molecule level using the STM break junction method. Measurements on the single-molecule level shed light on charge transport phenomena which would otherwise be obfuscated by ensemble measurements of groups of molecules. This thesis will discuss three projects carried out using STM break junction. In the first project, the transition between two different charge transport mechanisms is reported in a set of molecular wires. The shortest wires show highly length dependent and temperature invariant conductance behavior, whereas the longer wires show weakly length dependent and temperature dependent behavior. This trend is consistent with a model whereby conduction occurs by coherent tunneling in the shortest wires and by incoherent hopping in the longer wires. Measurements are supported with calculations and the evolution of the molecular junction during the pulling process is investigated. The second project reports controlling the formation of single-molecule junctions by means of electrochemically reducing two axial-diazonium terminal groups on a molecule, thereby producing direct Au-C covalent bonds in-situ between the molecule and gold electrodes. Step length analysis shows that the molecular junction is significantly more stable, and can be pulled over a longer distance than a comparable junction created with amine anchoring bonds. The stability of the junction is explained by the calculated lower binding energy associated with the direct Au-C bond compared with the Au-N bond. Finally, the third project investigates the role that molecular conformation plays in the conductance of oligothiophene single-molecule junctions. Ethyl substituted oligothiophenes were measured and found to exhibit temperature dependent conductance and transition voltage for molecules with between two and six repeat units. While the molecule with only one repeat unit shows temperature invariant behavior. Density functional theory calculations show that at higher temperatures the oligomers with multiple repeat units assume a more planar conformation, which increases the conjugation length and decreases the effective energy barrier of the junction.
This book presents a multidisciplinary approach to single-molecule electronics. It includes a complete overview of the field, from the synthesis and design of molecular candidates to the prevalent experimental techniques, complemented by a detailed theoretical description. This all-inclusive strategy provides the reader with the much-needed perspective to fully understand the far-reaching ramifications of single-molecule electronics. In addition, a number of state-of-the-art topics are discussed, including single-molecule spectro-electrical methods, electrochemical DNA sequencing technology, and single-molecule chemical reactions. As a result of this integrative effort, this publication may be used as an introductory textbook to both graduate and advanced undergraduate students, as well as researchers with interests in single-molecule electronics, organic electronics, surface science, and nanoscience.
Quantum tunnelling is one of the strangest phenomena in chemistry, where we see the wave nature of atoms acting in “impossible” ways. By letting molecules pass through the kinetic barrier instead of over it, this effect can lead to chemical reactions even close to the absolute zero, to atypical spectroscopic observations, to bizarre selectivity, or to colossal isotopic effects. Quantum mechanical tunnelling observations might be infrequent in chemistry, but it permeates through all its disciplines producing remarkable chemical outcomes. For that reason, the 21st century has seen a great increase in theoretical and experimental findings involving molecular tunnelling effects, as well as in novel techniques that permit their accurate predictions and analysis. Including experimental, computational and theoretical chapters, from the physical and organic to the biochemistry fields, from the applied to the academic arenas, this new book provides a broad and conceptual perspective on tunnelling reactions and how to study them. Quantum Tunnelling in Molecules is the obligatory stop for both the specialist and those new to this world.