Center for Functional Nanomaterials Seminar

The development of molecular scale electronic devices requires the comprehension of electron transport properties through single-molecules. Using the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) based break-junction technique, we have systematically investigated the conductance behaviors of gold-molecule-gold junctions with a series of molecules. We screened various ligands and found that amines (-NH2), sulfides (-SMe), and phosphines (-PMe2, and -PPh2) give well-defined peaks in the conductance histogram. With these chemical functionalities, we could expand the scope of conductance study into conformational dependence and end group dependence. Our ongoing research is the synthesis of strained molecules that undergo isomerization under mechanical force to their less strained isomers.

Please contact Barney Grubbs (rgrubbs@bnl.gov; x2382) if you are interested in meeting with the speaker