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Probing the Effect of the Density of Active Molecules in Large-Area Molecular Junctions
Quyen Van Nguyen1,2, Pascal Martin1, Jean Christophe Lacroix1,2
1Université Paris Cité, ITODYS, CNRS UMR 7086, 15 rue Jean-Antoine de Baïf, 75205 Paris Cedex 13, France.
Abstract:
The effect of the density of active molecules in molecular junctions (MJs) has been investigated by using a host/guest strategy. Mixed layers consisting of oligothiophene (BTB) encapsulated by β-cyclodextrin (BTB@β-CD) were generated. Cyclodextrins were then removed, and the pinholes generated were filled with BTB to obtain BTB@BTB films. MJs based on mixed BTB@β-CD and BTB@BTB layers, as well as single-component BTB MJs, were compared. The variation of ln J vs thickness is similar for all systems while the Jo of BTB@β-CD MJs is 20 times lower than that of BTB MJs. After β-cyclodextrin has been removed, and the pinholes filled, Jo increases and reaches the same value as for the BTB MJs, showing that the conductance scales with the number of active molecules. This strategy provides a unique method for investigating molecular interactions in direct tunneling MJs as well as the possibility of fabricating new functionalized MJs based on mixed layers.
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