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Updated: Jun 21, 2026

Liquid-cell Transmission Electron Microscopy for Tracking Self-assembly of Nanoparticles
Published on: October 16, 2017
Conduction mechanisms and stability of single molecule nanoparticle/molecule/nanoparticle junctions
Jeong-Seok Na1, Jennifer Ayres, Kusum L Chandra
1Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC 27695, USA.
Abstract:
Nanoparticle/molecule/nanoparticle dimer assemblies have been successfully trapped by dielectrophoresis across nanogap electrodes, enabling temperature dependent charge transport measurements through an oligomeric phenylene ethynylene molecule, and transition from direct tunnelling to Fowler-Nordheim tunnelling is observed at approximately 1.5 V. Samples formed by dielectrophoresis show better contact stability than those formed by receding meniscus. The junction shows stable operation over several weeks in a vacuum, but current increases with time upon exposure to air, possibly due to the adsorbed water molecules near the molecule/gold nanoparticle contacts.
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