Driving current through single organic molecules

We investigate electronic transport through two types of conjugated molecules. Mechanically controlled break junctions are used to couple thiol end groups of single molecules to two gold electrodes. Current-voltage characteristics ( IVs) of the metal-molecule-metal system are observed. These IVs rep...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physical review letters 2002-04, Vol.88 (17), p.176804-176804, Article 176804
Main Authors: Reichert, J, Ochs, R, Beckmann, D, Weber, H B, Mayor, M, Löhneysen, H V
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:We investigate electronic transport through two types of conjugated molecules. Mechanically controlled break junctions are used to couple thiol end groups of single molecules to two gold electrodes. Current-voltage characteristics ( IVs) of the metal-molecule-metal system are observed. These IVs reproduce the spatial symmetry of the molecules with respect to the direction of current flow. We hereby unambiguously detect an intrinsic property of the molecule and are able to distinguish the influence of both the molecule and the contact to the metal electrodes on the transport properties of the compound system.
ISSN:0031-9007
1079-7114
DOI:10.1103/physrevlett.88.176804