An MCBJ case study: The influence of pi-conjugation on the single-molecule conductance at a solid/liquid interface

作者：Hong Wenjing; Valkenier Hennie; Meszaros Gabor; Manrique David Zsolt; Mishchenko Artem; Putz Alexander; Garcia Pavel Moreno; Lambert Colin J; Hummelen Jan C; Wandlowski Thomas^*

来源：Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology, 2011, 2: 699-713.

DOI：10.3762/bjnano.2.76

• anthraquinone
• pi-conjugation
• mechanically controlled break junction
• single-molecule conductance

pi-Conjugation plays an important role in charge transport through single molecular junctions. We describe in this paper the construction of a mechanically controlled break-junction setup (MCBJ) equipped with a highly sensitive log I-V converter in order to measure ultralow conductances of molecular rods trapped between two gold leads. The current resolution of the setup reaches down to 10 fA. We report single-molecule conductance measurements of an anthracene-based linearly conjugated molecule (AC), of an anthraquinone-based cross-conjugated molecule (AQ), and of a dihydroanthracene-based molecule (AH) with a broken conjugation. The quantitative analysis of complementary current-distance and current-voltage measurements revealed details of the influence of p-conjugation on the single-molecule conductance.

• 出版日期2011-10-18