A single-molecule diode

被引:419
作者
Elbing, M
Ochs, R
Koentopp, M
Fischer, M
von Hänisch, C
Weigend, F
Evers, F
Weber, HB
Mayor, M
机构
[1] Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Inst Nanotechnol, D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany
[2] Univ Erlangen Nurnberg, D-91058 Erlangen, Germany
[3] Univ Basel, Dept Chem, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland
关键词
molecular electronics; rectification; single-molecule studies;
D O I
10.1073/pnas.0408888102
中图分类号
O [数理科学和化学]; P [天文学、地球科学]; Q [生物科学]; N [自然科学总论];
学科分类号
07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;
摘要
We have designed and synthesized a molecular rod that consists of two weakly coupled electronic pi-systems with mutually shifted energy levels. The asymmetry thus implied manifests itself in a current-voltage characteristic with pronounced dependence on the sign of the bias voltage, which makes the molecule a prototype for a molecular diode. The individual molecules were immobilized by sulfur-gold bonds between both electrodes of a mechanically controlled break junction, and their electronic transport properties have been investigated. The results indeed show diode-like current-voltage characteristics. In contrast to that, control experiments with symmetric molecular rods consisting of two identical pi-systems did not show significant asymmetries in the transport properties. To investigate the underlying transport mechanism, phenomenological arguments are combined with calculations based on density functional theory. The theoretical analysis suggests that the bias dependence of the polarizability of the molecule feeds back into the current leading to an asymmetric shape of the current-voltage characteristics, similar to the phenomena in a semiconductor diode.
引用
收藏
页码:8815 / 8820
页数:6
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