TY - JOUR A1 - Hong, Wenjing A1 - Valkenier, Hennie A1 - Mészáros, Gábor A1 - Manrique, David Zsolt A1 - Mishchenko, Artem A1 - Putz, Alexander A1 - García, Pavel Moreno A1 - Lambert, Colin J. A1 - Hummelen, Jan C. A1 - Wandlowski, Thomas T1 - An MCBJ case study: The influence of π-conjugation on the single-molecule conductance at a solid/liquid interface JF - Beilstein Journal of Nanotechnology PY - 2011/// VL - 2 SP - 699 EP - 713 SN - 2190-4286 DO - 10.3762/bjnano.2.76 PB - Beilstein-Institut JA - Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. UR - https://doi.org/10.3762/bjnano.2.76 KW - anthraquinone KW - π-conjugation KW - mechanically controlled break junction KW - single-molecule conductance N2 - π-Conjugation plays an important role in charge transport through single molecular junctions. We describe in this paper the construction of a mechanically controlled break-junction setup (MCBJ) equipped with a highly sensitive log I–V converter in order to measure ultralow conductances of molecular rods trapped between two gold leads. The current resolution of the setup reaches down to 10 fA. We report single-molecule conductance measurements of an anthracene-based linearly conjugated molecule (AC), of an anthraquinone-based cross-conjugated molecule (AQ), and of a dihydroanthracene-based molecule (AH) with a broken conjugation. The quantitative analysis of complementary current–distance and current–voltage measurements revealed details of the influence of π-conjugation on the single-molecule conductance. ER -