Related papers: Stabilizing single atom contacts by molecular brid…
In contrast to silicon-based transistors, single molecule junctions can be gated by simple mechanical means. Specifically, charge can be transferred between the junction's electrodes and its molecular bridge when the interelectrode distance…
We measure the conductance of amine-terminated molecules by breaking Au point contacts in a molecular solution at room temperature. We find that the variability of the observed conductance for the diamine molecule-Au junctions is much less…
Using an updated simulation tool, we examine molecular junctions comprised of benzene-1,4-dithiolate bonded between gold nanotips, focusing on the importance of environmental factors and inter-electrode distance on the formation and…
A simple and highly reproducible technique is demonstrated for the fabrication of metallic electrodes with nanometer separation. Commercially available bare gold colloidal nanoparticles are first trapped between prefabricated…
We propose an objective and robust method to extract the electrical conductance of single molecules connected to metal electrodes from a set of measured conductance data. Our method roots in the physics of tunneling and is tested on…
Molecular dynamics simulations have been performed on pure liquid water, aqueous solutions of sodium chloride, and polymer solutions exposed to a strong external electric field with the goal to gain molecular insight into the structural…
A standard route for fabrication of nanoscopic tunnel junctions is via electromigration of lithographically prepared gold nanowires. In the lithography process, a thin adhesion layer, typically titanium, is used to promote the adhesion of…
Covalent molecules are characterized by directed bonds, which provide stability-of-form to the molecules relative atomic positions. In contrast, bulk metals are characterized by delocalized bonds, where a large number of resonance…
We have studied experimentally the phenomena of jump-to-contact (JC) and jump-out-of-contact (JOC) in gold electrodes. JC can be observed at the first contact when the two metals approach each other while JOC occurs in the last contact…
The process of creating an atomically defined and robust metallic tip is described and quantified using measurements of contact conductance between gold electrodes and numerical simulations. Our experiments show how the same conductance…
We study the interaction between single apex atoms in a metallic contact, using the break junction geometry. By carefully 'training' our samples, we create stable junctions in which no further atomic reorganization takes place. This allows…
We examine theoretically the effects of the bonding geometries at the gold-thiol interfaces on the inelastic tunneling spectra of propanedithiolate (PDT) molecules bridging gold electrodes and show that inelastic tunneling spectroscopy…
Colloidal crystals formed by size-asymmetric binary particles co-assemble into a wide variety of colloidal compounds with lattices akin to ionic crystals. Recently, a transition from a compound phase with a sublattice of small particles to…
The potential energy curves, permanent and transition dipole moments, and the static dipolar polarizability, of molecular ions composed of one alkali-metal atom and a Strontium ion are determined with a quantum chemistry approach. The…
A quantum effect at ambient conditions is presented. A benzene dithiol (BDT) molecule or a tetrahydrofuran (THF) molecule is used as a barrier molecule bridging the gold electrodes from a Mechanically Controllable Break junction. It has…
Most elemental metals under ambient conditions adopt simple structures such as BCC, FCC and HCP in specific groupings across the Periodic Table, and on compression, many of these elements undergo transitions to surprisingly complex…
Molecular nanowires in which a single molecule bonds chemically to two metal electrodes and forms a stable electrically conducting bridge between them have been studied intensively for more than a decade. However the experimental…
We present a microscopic theory of single-electron tunneling through metallic nanoparticles connected to the electrodes through molecular bridges. It combines the theory of electron transport through molecular junctions with the description…
Molecular-scale components are expected to be central to nanoscale electronic devices. While molecular-scale switching has been reported in atomic quantum point contacts, single-molecule junctions provide the additional flexibility of…
Computer modeling and simulations are performed to investigate capillary bridges spontaneously formed between closely packed colloidal particles in phase separating liquids. The simulations reveal a self-stabilization mechanism that…