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Electron transport in molecular junctions

Nature Nanotechnology volume 1, pages 173–181 (2006)Cite this article

Abstract

Building an electronic device using individual molecules is one of the ultimate goals in nanotechnology. To achieve this it will be necessary to measure, control and understand electron transport through molecules attached to electrodes. Substantial progress has been made over the past decade and we present here an overview of some of the recent advances. Topics covered include molecular wires, two-terminal switches and diodes, three-terminal transistor-like devices and hybrid devices that use various different signals (light, magnetic fields, and chemical and mechanical signals) to control electron transport in molecules. We also discuss further issues, including molecule–electrode contacts, local heating- and current-induced instabilities, stochastic fluctuations and the development of characterization tools.

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Figure 1: Illustration of a single molecule attached to two electrodes as a basic component in molecular electronics.
Figure 2: Length dependence of conductance G for saturated chains (alkanes13 and peptides12) and conjugated molecules (carotenoids23).
Figure 3: a, A molecular diode consisting of a single molecule (1') covalently linked to two Au electrodes of a mechanically controlled break junction.
Figure 4: Demonstration of two-state molecular switching behaviour in three different platforms.
Figure 5: Controlling current through a molecule using different gates.
Figure 6: Controlling electron transport through a redox molecule, PTCDI, by switching the redox state of the molecule with an electrochemical gate.

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Acknowledgements

I thank Hong Guo, Fang Chen and Josh Hihath for critical reading of the manuscript and NSF, DOE, VW and DARPA for support.

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  1. Department of Electrical Engineering Arizona State University, Tempe, 85287, Arizona

    N. J. Tao

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Tao, N. Electron transport in molecular junctions. Nature Nanotech 1, 173–181 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2006.130

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