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Related Experiment Videos

Single-molecule circuits with well-defined molecular conductance.

Latha Venkataraman1, Jennifer E Klare, Iris W Tam

  • 1Department of Physics, and Center for Electron Transport in Molecular Nanostructures, Columbia University, New York, New York 10027, USA. latha@phys.columbia.edu

Nano Letters
|March 9, 2006
PubMed
Summary

Amine-terminated molecules show significantly less conductance variability in gold junctions compared to other linkers. This allows for precise single-molecule conductance measurements and reveals a consistent tunneling decay constant for alkane diamines.

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Area of Science:

  • Molecular Electronics
  • Nanotechnology
  • Surface Chemistry

Background:

  • Conductance measurements of single molecules are crucial for molecular electronics.
  • Variability in junction formation and molecule-electrode coupling often hinders precise measurements.
  • Amine linkers offer a potential alternative for stable molecular junctions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the conductance of amine-terminated molecules in gold point contacts.
  • To compare the junction variability of amine linkers with other common linkers (dithiol, diisonitrile).
  • To determine the tunneling decay constant for a series of alkane diamines.

Main Methods:

  • Breaking gold (Au) point contacts in a molecular solution at room temperature.
  • Measuring the electrical conductance of single molecule-gold junctions.

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  • Utilizing density functional theory (DFT) for computational analysis of amine-gold binding.

    • Main Results:

    • Amine-terminated diamine molecules exhibit significantly lower conductance variability compared to diisonitrile and dithiol counterparts.
    • A systematic trend in conductance was observed for alkane diamines with varying chain lengths (2-8 carbons).
    • A tunneling decay constant of 0.91 ± 0.03 per methylene group was extracted.

    Conclusions:

    • The amine linkage provides well-defined conductance measurements for single molecule junctions.
    • Preferential binding of amine groups to undercoordinated gold atoms contributes to junction stability.
    • DFT calculations support the proposed binding mechanism and electronic coupling of amine linkers to gold.