A scanning tunneling microscope break junction method with continuous bias modulation

Single molecule conductance measurements on 1,8-octanedithiol were performed using the scanning tunneling microscope break junction method with an externally controlled modulation of the bias voltage. Application of an AC voltage is shown to improve the signal to noise ratio of low current (low cond...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nanoscale 2015-09, Vol.7 (36), p.14965-14973
Main Authors: Beall, Edward, Yin, Xing, Waldeck, David H, Wierzbinski, Emil
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Bias
Breaking
Conductance
Electric potential
Microscopes
Modulation
Scanning
Solvents
Voltage
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Summary:Single molecule conductance measurements on 1,8-octanedithiol were performed using the scanning tunneling microscope break junction method with an externally controlled modulation of the bias voltage. Application of an AC voltage is shown to improve the signal to noise ratio of low current (low conductance) measurements as compared to the DC bias method. The experimental results show that the current response of the molecule(s) trapped in the junction and the solvent media to the bias modulation can be qualitatively different. A model RC circuit which accommodates both the molecule and the solvent is proposed to analyze the data and extract a conductance for the molecule.
ISSN:2040-3364
2040-3372
DOI:10.1039/c5nr04649a