Molecular attachment to a microscope tip: inelastic tunneling, Kondo screening, and thermopower

• Rouzhaji Tuerhong,
• Mauro Boero and
• Jean-Pierre Bucher

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 1243–1250, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.124

• junction conductance of about 200% (see Figure 2e). Such a large conductance increment supports the strong electron–vibration interaction of the MnPc molecule suspended in the STM gap, similar to the one reported for CO2 molecule in the platinum break junction [31][32]. Furthermore, the spectral intensity

Intuitive human interface to a scanning tunnelling microscope: observation of parity oscillations for a single atomic chain

• Sumit Tewari,
• Jacob Bakermans,
• Christian Wagner,
• Federica Galli and
• Jan M. van Ruitenbeek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2019, 10, 337–348, doi:10.3762/bjnano.10.33

• one-dimensional (1D) systems and are known to be formed only in pure metals such as Au, Pt and Ir. They have been studied by collecting large amounts of statistics using mechanically controlled break junction (MCBJ) [8][30] and scanning tunnelling microscope break junction (STMBJ) [31] techniques

Electronic conduction during the formation stages of a single-molecule junction

• Atindra Nath Pal,
• Tal Klein,
• Ayelet Vilan and
• Oren Tal

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1471–1477, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.138

• scenarios in which a single-molecule junction is formed. Future control over such processes may pave the way for directed formation of preferred junction structures. Keywords: break junction; electron–vibration interactions; electronic transport; inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy; molecular

• , was greatly facilitated by the development of the mechanically controllable break junction technique [3]. In a break junction (Figure 1a), molecules are introduced to a metallic junction while it is stretched. As a result, the junction is thinned to an atomic scale contact and eventually it breaks to

• scenarios of structural evolution from premature junction configurations towards the formation of a typical metal–molecule–metal junction, bringing to light the early steps of single-molecule junction formation. Experimental We use the mechanically controllable break junction (MCBJ) technique [3] to

Patterning of supported gold monolayers via chemical lift-off lithography

• Liane S. Slaughter,
• Kevin M. Cheung,
• Sami Kaappa,
• Huan H. Cao,
• Qing Yang,
• Thomas D. Young,
• Andrew C. Serino,
• Sami Malola,
• Jana M. Olson,
• Stephan Link,
• Hannu Häkkinen,
• Anne M. Andrews and
• Paul S. Weiss

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2648–2661, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.265

• ) withdraw charge from Au atoms, causing measurable changes in the physical properties of Au, including the increased binding energy of Au 4f electrons measured by XPS [51], decreased Au–Au rupture forces in molecular break-junction experiments [52][53][54], and shorter Au–S bonds compared with Au–Au bonds

Inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy of difurylethene-based photochromic single-molecule junctions

• Youngsang Kim,
• Safa G. Bahoosh,
• Dmytro Sysoiev,
• Thomas Huhn,
• Fabian Pauly and
• Elke Scheer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2606–2614, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.261

• theoretical analysis of charge transport through diarylethene-derived single-molecule devices, which are created using the mechanically controlled break-junction technique. Inelastic electron tunneling (IET) spectroscopy measurements performed at 4.2 K are compared with first-principles calculations in the

Robust procedure for creating and characterizing the atomic structure of scanning tunneling microscope tips

• Sumit Tewari,
• Koen M. Bastiaans,
• Milan P. Allan and
• Jan M. van Ruitenbeek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2389–2395, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.238

• repeatable cycles, which is interpreted as evidence for a crystalline tip structure. This work on mechanical annealing was inspired by earlier break junction and STM experiments, supported by molecular dynamics simulations [25][27][28]. A first application of this approach for a Au STM tip over a graphene

• on previous break junction experiments [27] it is known that for less than 100 mV bias voltage the Joule heating of the junctions is negligible and so the current level during mechanical annealing should not play an important role, when keeping the bias below this value. We find no evidence that the

Adsorbate-driven cooling of carbene-based molecular junctions

• Giuseppe Foti and
• Héctor Vázquez

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2017, 8, 2060–2068, doi:10.3762/bjnano.8.206

• . STM break-junction measurements are often carried out in solution, where, in addition to target molecules, solvent molecules are also present [11][12][13][14][15][16]. The presence of contaminants that might diffuse on the surface and cause fluctuations in conductance or sudden changes in the junction

• stability cannot be ruled out [17]. Finally some molecular end groups are cleaved at the junction [18][19][20][21][22]. These chemical species presumably remain in the vicinity of the junction although their role is difficult to analyze precisely, because single-molecule break-junction experiments provide

Solvent-mediated conductance increase of dodecanethiol-stabilized gold nanoparticle monolayers

• Patrick A. Reissner,
• Jean-Nicolas Tisserant,
• Antoni Sánchez-Ferrer,
• Raffaele Mezzenga and
• Andreas Stemmer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 2057–2064, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.196

• . Comparing the conductance values in Figure 5a,b after OPE/THF immersion with the conductance of OPE-dithiol measured by mechanical break junction experiments (9.3 × 10−9 S) [31], one might infer a high yield of exchanged molecules. However, the average conductance of the THF immersed devices (red data

Role of solvents in the electronic transport properties of single-molecule junctions

• Katharina Luka-Guth,
• Sebastian Hambsch,
• Andreas Bloch,
• Philipp Ehrenreich,
• Bernd Michael Briechle,
• Filip Kilibarda,
• Torsten Sendler,
• Dmytro Sysoiev,
• Thomas Huhn,
• Artur Erbe and
• Elke Scheer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 1055–1067, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.99

• controllable break junction; molecular electronics; polar solvent; single-molecule junctions; Introduction The electronic transport properties of single-molecule junctions are actively investigated with the aim to utilize such junctions as functional building blocks in electronic devices [1][2][3][4][5][6][7

• contacts, or even two fine tips when applying the mechanically controllable break junction (MCBJ) technique [26][27][28]. Also, when using planar electrodes, e.g., in the electromigration technique [29], the very ends show features with corrugations of atomic size. The typical voltage applied when

• vacuum chamber of a reactive ion etcher in order to form a free-standing bridge [26][28]. Break junction setup for measurements of molecular contacts in solution As described in [11], the samples are mounted onto the three-point bending mechanism shown in Figure 8. The electrodes are contacted by

Thermo-voltage measurements of atomic contacts at low temperature

• Ayelet Ofarim,
• Bastian Kopp,
• Thomas Möller,
• León Martin,
• Johannes Boneberg,
• Paul Leiderer and
• Elke Scheer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2016, 7, 767–775, doi:10.3762/bjnano.7.68

• atomic-sized gold contacts at low temperature. For these measurements a mechanically controllable break junction (MCBJ) system is used and a laser source generates a temperature difference of a few kelvins across the junction to create a thermo-voltage. Since the temperature difference enters directly

• controllable break-junction; temperature determination; thermopower; Introduction The energy and heat management in electronic devices has become a challenge in recent years due to the down-scaling of electronic components to the nanoscale, where the transport is governed by quantum-mechanical properties

• ]. Experimental techniques such as scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) and the mechanically controlled break-junction (MCBJ) technique allow investigation of transport properties of atomic-scale devices [18]. Therefore, most approaches for measurements of thermo-voltage, or simultaneous measurements of

Probing the local environment of a single OPE3 molecule using inelastic tunneling electron spectroscopy

• Riccardo Frisenda,
• Mickael L. Perrin and
• Herre S. J. van der Zant

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2477–2484, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.257

• tunneling spectroscopy (IETS). The molecule is contacted with gold nano-electrodes formed with the mechanically controllable break junction technique. We record the IETS spectrum of the molecule from direct current measurements, both as a function of time and electrode separation. We find that for fixed

• electrodes when describing inelastic contributions to transport through single-molecule junctions. Keywords: current–voltage characteristics; DFT calculations; mechanically controllable break junction (MCBJ); molecule–electrode interaction; vibrational modes; Introduction Vibrational degrees of freedom in

• investigate the IETS signal of an oligo(phenylene ethynylene)dithiol molecule (OPE3) single-molecule junction at liquid helium temperature (4.2 K). Exploiting the high stability of the mechanically controlled break junction technique in cryogenic vacuum, we investigate the evolution of the junction in time

High electronic couplings of single mesitylene molecular junctions

• Yuki Komoto,
• Shintaro Fujii,
• Tomoaki Nishino and
• Manabu Kiguchi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2431–2437, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.251

• transport properties of single mesitylene (1,3,5-trimethylbenzene) molecular junctions. The electronic conductance and the current–voltage characteristics of mesitylene molecules wired into Au electrodes were measured by a scanning tunnelling microscopy-based break-junction method at room temperature in a

• electrode perpendicular to the charge transport direction and (ii) mesitylene has tilted from the perpendicular orientation. Keywords: break junction; charge transport; mesitylene; single molecular junction; scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM); Introduction Along with increasing interests in molecular

• Γ as well as ε0. Very recently Afsari et al. have investigated the single mesitylene molecular junction with a scanning tunnelling microscopy (STM)-based break junction (BJ) technique [20]. The conductance of a single mesitylene molecular junction has been founded to be approximately 0.1G0, which is

Vibration-mediated Kondo transport in molecular junctions: conductance evolution during mechanical stretching

• David Rakhmilevitch and
• Oren Tal

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2417–2422, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.249

• in a molecular junction. Recently, vibration-mediated Kondo transport was demonstrated in junctions consisting of a copper–phthalocyanine (CuPc; Figure 1b) molecule suspended between silver (Ag) electrodes [23]. In the current work we use similar junctions realized in a break junction setup, to

• revealed a zero-bias peak accompanied by two side peaks as seen in Figure 1a. The zero-bias peak was associated with a Kondo S = 1/2 system based on the peak response to variable temperature and magnetic field. According to calculations [23], in a break junction setup the molecule is attached to the

• vibration energy. However, further stretching weakens the molecule–electrode binding, resulting in a decrease in vibration energy [26][27][28]. Experimental Ag/CuPc molecular junctions were constructed using a mechanically controllable break junction [30] (Figure 1b) at 4.2 K. A notch was cut in the middle

Evidence for non-conservative current-induced forces in the breaking of Au and Pt atomic chains

• Carlos Sabater,
• Carlos Untiedt and
• Jan M. van Ruitenbeek

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 2338–2344, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.241

• the experimental techniques we refer to Smit et al. [10]. Briefly, the experiment is based on the formation of chains of metal atoms by the mechanically controllable break junction (MCBJ) technique [11][12]. As schematically illustrated in Figure 1 we start from a macroscopic metallic wire that is

Conductance through single biphenyl molecules: symmetric and asymmetric coupling to electrodes

• Karthiga Kanthasamy and
• Herbert Pfnür

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1690–1697, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.171

• break junction technique (MCBJ), the conductive properties of [1,1’-biphenyl]-4,4’-dithiol (M1) and of 4’-mercapto-[1,1’-biphenyl]-4-carbonitrile (M2) between gold electrodes. As a function of electrode separation, characterized by the conductance close to 0 V, we found several plateaus of relative

• molecules while only a few experiments [6][25][26][27] have been done with molecules with asymmetric end groups and contacts. One technique widely used for studying transport through single or few molecules is the mechanically controllable break junction (MCBJ), which can be used in different environments

• piston in the break junction. Assuming that these steps are due to the generation of a new (111)-oriented layer of gold on one of the contacts [43], the step distances in conductance on the x-axis coincide within 1% with the layer distance in this direction of gold (2.494 Å) taking into account the

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

• Riccardo Frisenda,
• Simge Tarkuç,
• Elena Galán,
• Mickael L. Perrin,
• Rienk Eelkema,
• Ferdinand C. Grozema and
• Herre S. J. van der Zant

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1558–1567, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.159

• 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 groups: thiol (SAc), methyl sulfide (SMe), pyridyl (Py) and amine (NH2). The focus of this paper is on the

• an enormous growth thanks to the development of reliable techniques to trap and electrically contact single molecules [1][2][3]. One such a technique involves the break-junction (BJ) methods; two widely used BJ methods are the mechanically controlled (MCBJ) and the scanning probe microscopy (SPMBJ

• to gold break-junction electrodes. Additionally, they report that the mechanical stability and the probability of forming a junction is highest for Py, followed by SH. Moreno-García et al. [15] recently compared a series of oligoyne molecular wires with Py, NH2, CN, SH and benzothiophene (BT) as

Alternative types of molecule-decorated atomic chains in Au–CO–Au single-molecule junctions

• Zoltán Balogh,
• Péter Makk and
• András Halbritter

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1369–1376, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.141

• we compare these results to former theoretical calculations considering bridge- and atop-type molecular configurations where the latter has reduced conductance due to destructive Fano interference. Keywords: atomic chains; break junction; carbon monoxide; correlation analysis; gold; Introduction

• The break junction method is widely used to establish single-molecule nanowires [1][2]. During its controlled rupture a metallic wire thins down to atomic dimensions and finally breaks forming a nanometer-sized gap between the electrodes. This gap can be bridged by single molecules in a self-organized

• way. As the microscopic details of such molecular junctions can vary from experiment to experiment, a statistical analysis is necessary. The break junction method allows for the statistical investigation of molecular junctions: by closing the junction the metallic electrodes can be reconnected, and

Electrical characterization of single molecule and Langmuir–Blodgett monomolecular films of a pyridine-terminated oligo(phenylene-ethynylene) derivative

• Henrry M. Osorio,
• Santiago Martín,
• María Carmen López,
• Santiago Marqués-González,
• Simon J. Higgins,
• Richard J. Nichols,
• Paul J. Low and
• Pilar Cea

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1145–1157, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.116

• , forming stable and reproducible molecular junctions with relatively high conductance, and statistically high junction formation probabilities in the break junction method. In addition, the chemical inertness of the pyridyl group makes it quite attractive, since no protective groups are needed in the

• Zhao et al. [108] who reported a conductance of 3.16 × 10−5 G0 for 1 using the mechanically controlled break junction method (MCBJ). The I–V curve determined for the LB film at 2.5 nA and 0.6 V is in excellent agreement with the SMC value of 1 obtained by means of the I(s) method. This result indicates

Closed-loop conductance scanning tunneling spectroscopy: demonstrating the equivalence to the open-loop alternative

• Chris Hellenthal,
• Kai Sotthewes,
• Martin H. Siekman,
• E. Stefan Kooij and
• Harold J. W. Zandvliet

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2015, 6, 1116–1124, doi:10.3762/bjnano.6.113

• studies have reported on the possibility of obtaining LDOS information by using closed-loop z(V) measurements [5][6][7][8]. Another field of interest is the determination of the work function of materials, through the use of either STS or mechanical break junction (MBJ) measurements. In the case of STS

Characterization and properties of micro- and nanowires of controlled size, composition, and geometry fabricated by electrodeposition and ion-track technology

• Maria Eugenia Toimil-Molares

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 860–883, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.97

• plasmonic sensing as well as nanoelectronics [121][122]. However, the reliable fabrication of such structures remains a challenge. Techniques such as break-junction techniques and gap narrowing by electroplating have been employed, but their precision and reproducibility is limited [123][124]. The template

Current–voltage characteristics of single-molecule diarylethene junctions measured with adjustable gold electrodes in solution

• Bernd M. Briechle,
• Youngsang Kim,
• Philipp Ehrenreich,
• Artur Erbe,
• Dmytro Sysoiev,
• Thomas Huhn,
• Ulrich Groth and
• Elke Scheer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 798–808, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.89

• current–voltage characteristics of these junctions are measured in a mechanically controlled break-junction system at room temperature and in liquid environment. We compare the transport properties of a series of molecules, labeled TSC, MN, and 4Py, with the same switching core but varying side-arms and

• : diarylethene; mechanically controllable break-junction; molecular electronics; photoswitching; single-molecule junctions; Introduction Charge transport in single-molecule devices is actively investigated with the aim to realize functional electronic circuits [1][2][3][4], such as switches [5], transistors [4

• to detect, and it is one to two orders of magnitude smaller than the one that was achieved with the STM break-junction technique under similar conditions and at similar bias voltages [25]. This procedure is reversed, releasing the junction back until Au–Au contacts with a conductance of more than 100

Revealing thermal effects in the electronic transport through irradiated atomic metal point contacts

• Bastian Kopp,
• Zhiwei Yi,
• Daniel Benner,
• Fang-Qing Xie,
• Christian Obermair,
• Thomas Schimmel,
• Johannes Boneberg,
• Paul Leiderer and
• Elke Scheer

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 703–711, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.80

• layer are the most prominent effects. Keywords: atom transistor; atomic contacts; cyclic voltammogram; electrochemically closed break junction; electronic transport; (Helmholtz) double layer; light-induced signals; temperature-induced changes; thermovoltage; Introduction Electronic transport on the

• pulses. For comparison, a signal obtained in earlier measurements on a mechanically controlled break-junction (MCBJ) is shown in Figure 2b [16]. In the latter case, the signal is caused by a change in the ohmic conductance of the junction. The signal in Figure 2a, however, contains a dominating

• illumination (see Figure 1) in an electrochemical environment. Blue: laser pulse (duration 1 ms). (b) Red: Light-induced signal under illumination of a mechanically controlled break-junction. Blue: laser pulse (duration 0.5 ms) [16]. Spatial dependence of the light-induced signal (see Figure 2a) for the two

Current-induced forces in mesoscopic systems: A scattering-matrix approach

• Niels Bode,
• Silvia Viola Kusminskiy,
• Reinhold Egger and
• Felix von Oppen

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2012, 3, 144–162, doi:10.3762/bjnano.3.15

• model can be seen to be inspired by a double dot on a suspended carbon nanotube, or an H2 molecule in a break junction. The model is depicted schematically in Figure 2. The bare dot Hamiltonian corresponds to degenerate electronic states ε0, localized on the left and right atoms or quantum dots, with

Effect of the environment on the electrical conductance of the single benzene-1,4-diamine molecule junction

• Shigeto Nakashima,
• Yuuta Takahashi and
• Manabu Kiguchi

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 755–759, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.83

• (single-molecule junction) have attracted much attention toward the realization of molecular scale electronics [1][2]. Electrical conductance of the single-molecule junction was investigated by means of mechanically controllable break junction (MCBJ), scanning tunneling microscope (STM), and other

Lifetime analysis of individual-atom contacts and crossover to geometric-shell structures in unstrained silver nanowires

• Christian Obermair,
• Holger Kuhn and
• Thomas Schimmel

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 740–745, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.81

• transitions (or the number of maxima that can be observed in the electronically or in the geometrically dominated shell range) depends on the metal as well as on the experimental parameters: For mechanical break junction experiments, Mares et al. [23] found a crossover from electronic to geometric shells in