Single-molecule electrical contacts on silicon electrodes under ambient conditions

The ultimate goal in molecular electronics is to use individual molecules as the active electronic component of a real-world sturdy device. For this concept to become reality, it will require the field of single-molecule electronics to shift towards the semiconducting platform of the current microel...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature communications 2017-04, Vol.8 (1), p.15056-15056, Article 15056
Main Authors: Aragonès, Albert C., Darwish, Nadim, Ciampi, Simone, Sanz, Fausto, Gooding, J. Justin, Díez-Pérez, Ismael
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
639/638/440/947
639/638/542/968
639/925/927/998
Chemistry
Diodes
Electrodes
Electron transport
Electronics
Electrònica molecular
Gold
Humanities and Social Sciences
Microscopy
Microscòpia
Molecular electronics
multidisciplinary
Oxidation
Ratios
Reproducibility
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Semiconductors
Silicon
Transport d'electrons
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Summary:The ultimate goal in molecular electronics is to use individual molecules as the active electronic component of a real-world sturdy device. For this concept to become reality, it will require the field of single-molecule electronics to shift towards the semiconducting platform of the current microelectronics industry. Here, we report silicon-based single-molecule contacts that are mechanically and electrically stable under ambient conditions. The single-molecule contacts are prepared on silicon electrodes using the scanning tunnelling microscopy break-junction approach using a top metallic probe. The molecular wires show remarkable current–voltage reproducibility, as compared to an open silicon/nano-gap/metal junction, with current rectification ratios exceeding 4,000 when a low-doped silicon is used. The extension of the single-molecule junction approach to a silicon substrate contributes to the next level of miniaturization of electronic components and it is anticipated it will pave the way to a new class of robust single-molecule circuits. The next level of miniaturization of electronic circuits calls for a connection between current single-molecule and traditional semiconductor processing technologies. Here, the authors show a method to prepare metal/molecule/silicon diodes that present high current rectification ratios exceeding 4,000.
ISSN:2041-1723
2041-1723
DOI:10.1038/ncomms15056