An approach to transport measurements of electronic molecules

We present a hybrid assembly technique to facilitate the transport measurements of electronic molecules. The technique consists of forming a self-assembled monolayer of the investigated molecule on prepatterned electrodes and then bridging the electrodes with nanoparticles using an alternating electric field. This technique can potentially provide a quick and simple way to screen a large number of electronic molecules. As an example, we report preliminary transport measurements of 1-nitro-2,5-di(phenylethynyl-4*-thioacetyl)benzene as a test molecule. The data show qualitative agreement with previously published results for a similar molecule. (C) 2002 American Institute of Physics.