Surface-induced symmetry reduction in molecular switching: asymmetric cis-trans switching of CH3S-Au-SCH3 on Au(111)

作者：Gao, Jianzhi; Tang, Lin; Holmes, Scott; Li, Fangsen; Palmer, Richard E.; Guo, Quanmin^*

来源：Nanoscale, 2016, 8(47): 19787-19793.

DOI：10.1039/c6nr06864b

• MONOLAYERS
• METHYLTHIOLATE
• SPECTROSCOPY
• AZOBENZENE
• MOTOR

The cis-trans isomerization of CH3S-Au-SCH3 driven by the tip of the scanning tunneling microscope is investigated at 77 K. CH3S-Au-SCH3 anchored on the Au(111) surface with the S-Au-S axis parallel to the substrate functions as a molecular switch due to the flipping of the CH3 groups. The bonding between CH3S-Au-SCH3 and Au(111) leads to asymmetric isomerization where one of the two methyl groups flips much more effectively than the other, despite the symmetry of CH3S-Au-SCH3. Our findings suggest the possibility of constructing similar molecular switches that can be operated at room temperature and a potential route for fine-tuning of molecular switches in future nanoscale electro-mechanical devices.

• 出版日期2016
• 单位清华大学; 中国科学院; 中国科学院苏州纳米技术与纳米仿生研究所; 陕西师范大学