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Published on: March 13, 2019
Mechanism of the Stoddart-Heath bistable rotaxane molecular switch
Wei-Qiao Deng1, Richard P Muller, William A Goddard
1Materials and Process Simulation Center, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California 91125, USA.
Abstract:
We use quantum mechanics to characterize the structure and current-voltage performance of the Stoddart-Heath rotaxane-based programmable electronic switch. We find that the current when the ring is on the DNP is 37-58 times the current when the ring is on the TTF, in agreement with experiment (ratio of 10-100). This establishes the basis for iterative experimental-theoretical efforts to optimize systems for molecule-based electronics which we illustrate by predicting the effect of adding a group such as CN to the rotaxane.
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