Investigation of Amperometric Sensing Mechanism in Gold-C60-Gold Molecular Dot

We investigate through simulations the gold-C60-gold molecular junction as a novel single-molecule amperometric gas sensor. We find it promising for NO and NO2 detection in air and at room temperature, with current variations of the order of the microampere, and presenting the potential capability o...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:IEEE sensors journal 2022-10, Vol.22 (20), p.19152-19161
Main Authors: Mo, Fabrizio, Ardesi, Yuri, Roch, Massimo Ruo, Graziano, Mariagrazia, Piccinini, Gianluca
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Amperometric detection
C
CH
Chemical sensors
CO
Couplings
Current modulation
C₄H
dot
Electrical measurement
electronics
fullerene
Fullerenes
gas
Gas sensors
Gold
Investigations
junction
Junctions
molecular
nanogap
NH
nitric oxide (NO)
Nitrogen dioxide
NO
quantum
Room temperature
Selectivity
sensor
Sensor phenomena and characterization
Sensors
single-molecule
Target detection
Temperature sensors
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Summary:We investigate through simulations the gold-C60-gold molecular junction as a novel single-molecule amperometric gas sensor. We find it promising for NO and NO2 detection in air and at room temperature, with current variations of the order of the microampere, and presenting the potential capability of achieving the single-molecule sensitivity along with selectivity in the presence of common atmospheric gases. Furthermore, and for the first time, we investigate the current modulation mechanism due to target-sensor intermolecular interactions, providing theoretical insights into the functioning and exclusive properties of this novel device. In particular, we show and motivate the peculiar voltage-dependent response of the sensor that we relate to the distinctive mechanism of transport modulation occurring in the presence of a specific target. Finally, we discuss sensing reliability in air and the effects of probable fabrication process variability on sensing performance. Our results motivate future works on molecular dot-based chemical sensors in terms of the sensor-target exclusive interactions and detection principles, oriented to device-level engineering to find optimal operating conditions.
ISSN:1530-437X
1558-1748
DOI:10.1109/JSEN.2022.3203513