Mechanical Tuning of Through-Molecule Conductance in a Conjugated Calix[4]pyrrole

Mechanical Tuning of Through-Molecule Conductance in a Conjugated Calix[4]pyrrole

Stefani, D. (TU Delft QN/van der Zant Lab; Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft)
Perrin, M.L. (TU Delft QN/van der Zant Lab; Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft)
Gutiérrez Cerón, C.A. (Universidad de Chile)
Aragonès, Albert C. (King’s College London)
Labra Muñoz, J. (Universidad de Chile)
Carrasco, Rodrigo D.C. (Universidad de Chile)
Matsushita, Yoshitaka (National Institute for Materials Science)
Futera, Zdenek (University College Dublin)
Labuta, Jan (National Institute for Materials Science)
Ngo, Thien H. (National Institute for Materials Science)
Ariga, Katsuhiko (National Institute for Materials Science)
Díez-Pérez, Ismael (King’s College London)
van der Zant, H.S.J. (TU Delft QN/van der Zant Lab; Kavli institute of nanoscience Delft)
Dulić, Diana (Universidad de Chile)
Hill, Jonathan P. (National Institute for Materials Science)

2018

A conformationally flexible calix[4]pyrrole possessing a conjugated electronic structure (an N-substituted oxoporphyrinogen (OxP) related to porphyrin) was used to investigate the influence of mechanical stretching on the single-molecule conductance of these molecules using the mechanically-controlled break junction (MCBJ) technique. The results show that the molecule can be immobilized in a single-molecule break junction configuration, giving rise to different behaviours. These include step-like features in the conductance vs. displacement traces as well as conductance traces that exhibit a slower decay (‘downhill’ traces) than measured for direct tunneling. The latter class of traces can be associated with the mechanical manipulation (i. e., stretching) of the molecule with inter-electrode distances as long as 2 nm. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that OxP molecules are stable under stretching in the length regime studied.

calix[4]pyrrole
mechanically-controlled break junction
oxoporphyrinogen
single molecule

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:846eeacc-4e5d-4ac1-85e2-cd67f3abcc7d

https://doi.org/10.1002/slct.201801076

2019-01-22

2365-6549

ChemistrySelect, 3 (23), 6473-6478

Large birefringence and linear dichroism in TiS3 nanosheets†

Institutional Repository

journal article

© 2018 D. Stefani, M.L. Perrin, C.A. Gutiérrez Cerón, Albert C. Aragonès, J. Labra Muñoz, Rodrigo D.C. Carrasco, Yoshitaka Matsushita, Zdenek Futera, Jan Labuta, Thien H. Ngo, Katsuhiko Ariga, Ismael Díez-Pérez, H.S.J. van der Zant, Diana Dulić, Jonathan P. Hill