Nanomechanical oscillations in a single-C60 transistor

• Published in: Nature (London) 2000-09, Vol.407 (6800), p.57-60
• Main Authors: Park, Hongkun, Park, Jiwoong, Lim, Andrew K. L., Anderson, Erik H., Alivisatos, A. Paul, McEuen, Paul L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Electrodes; Electronics; Electrons; Exact sciences and technology; Fabrication; Humanities and Social Sciences; letter; Molecular electronics, nanoelectronics; Molecules; multidisciplinary; Nanotechnology; Physics; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Transistors
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687
• DOI: 10.1038/35024031

The motion of electrons through quantum dots is strongly modified by single-electron charging and the quantization of energy levels 1 , 2 . Much effort has been directed towards extending studies of electron transport to chemical nanostructures, including molecules 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , nanocrystals 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 and nanotubes 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 . Here we report the fabrication of single-molecule transistors based on individual C 60 molecules connected to gold electrodes. We perform transport measurements that provide evidence for a coupling between the centre-of-mass motion of the C 60 molecules and single-electron hopping 18 —a conduction mechanism that has not been observed previously in quantum dot studies. The coupling is manifest as quantized nano-mechanical oscillations of the C 60 molecule against the gold surface, with a frequency of about 1.2 THz. This value is in good agreement with a simple theoretical estimate based on van der Waals and electrostatic interactions between C 60 molecules and gold electrodes.