Temperature dependence of charge transport in solid-state molecular junctions based on oligo(phenylene ethynylene)s

The ultimate goal of molecular electronics is to achieve practical applications. For approaching the target, we have successfully fabricated solid-state junctions based on oligo(phenylene ethynylene)s (OPEs) and cruciform OPEs with extended tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) (OPE3 and OPE3-TTF) self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) with a diamine anchoring group. SAMs were confined in micropores with gold substrates to ensure well-defined device surface areas. The transport properties were conducted on a double-junction layout, which the rGO films used for top contacts and interconnects between adjacent SAMs. The solid-state devices based on OPE3-TTF SAMs showed the expected higher conductance under ambient conditions because of the incorporation of a TTF moiety. The two devices displayed varying degrees of temperature dependence with decreasing temperature, which resulted from the cross-conjugated OPE3-TTF molecule exhibiting quantum interference while the linear-conjugated OPE3 molecule did not. This study shows the temperature dependence of the electrical properties of molecular devices based on cruciform OPEs, further enriching the research results of functional molecular devices.