Synthesis of 1,2-biphenylethane based single-molecule diodes

We have described the synthesis of novel biphenylethane-based wires for molecular electronics. Exceptional single-molecule diode behavior was predicted for unsymmetrically substituted biphenylethane derivatives, synthesized here using the so far unexplored unsymmetrically substituted 1,2-bis(4-bromophenyl)ethanes as key intermediates, which were...

Electrical properties and mechanical stability of anchoring groups for single-molecule electronics

We report on an experimental investigation of transport through single molecules, trapped between two gold nano-electrodes fabricated with the mechanically controlled break junction (MCBJ) technique. The four molecules studied share the same core structure, namely oligo(phenylene ethynylene) (OPE3), while having different aurophilic anchoring...

Charge transport in a zinc-porphyrin single-molecule junction

We have investigated charge transport in ZnTPPdT-Pyr (TPPdT: 5,15-di(p-thiolphenyl)-10,20-di(p-tolyl)porphyrin) molecular junctions using the lithographic mechanically controllable break-junction (MCBJ) technique at room temperature and cryogenic temperature (6 K). We combined low-bias statistical measurements with spectroscopy of the molecular...