Electromigrated electrical optical antennas for transducing electrons and photons at the nanoscale

• Arindam Dasgupta,
• Mickaël Buret,
• Nicolas Cazier,
• Marie-Maxime Mennemanteuil,
• Reinaldo Chacon,
• Kamal Hammani,
• Jean-Claude Weeber,
• Juan Arocas,
• Laurent Markey,
• Gérard Colas des Francs,
• Alexander Uskov,
• Igor Smetanin and
• Alexandre Bouhelier

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2018, 9, 1964–1976, doi:10.3762/bjnano.9.187

• in agreement with this picture [19][20][21][27][54]. However, some authors reported an over-bias emission from atomic contacts where the emitted spectra are no longer limited by the kinetic energy of the electrons given by the applied bias [18][55][56]. In these devices, the emission is described by

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

• ][8]. A very fruitful method for gathering statistical information on the transport behaviour of single-molecule junctions is the repeated formation and breakage of atomic contacts immersed in a solution containing the molecules under investigation in a suitable solvent. The dissolution of the

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

• measurement of the resistance change due to laser heating of sensor leads on both sides next to the junction. Our results for the measured thermopower are in agreement with recent reports in the literature. Keywords: atomic contacts; finite element simulations; laser heating; low temperature; mechanically

• ), presented in Figure 5c with the corresponding ∆T, presented in Figure 7b. The sign of S is negative and its values are in good agreement with previous studies of Au atomic contacts [10][12]. While in [12] pronounced fluctuations with an average value of S = 0 was observed, in [10] S was shown to adopt both

• signs as well, but the mean value is negative for atomic contacts with G up to 103G0. Our data confirms the negative sign. However, the variance is smaller such that all measured S values are negative, probably because of the smaller statistical ensemble. A more comprehensive study of the thermopower of

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

• as benzene derivatives [17][19][20], C60 [23][24], ethylene [25], and pyrazine [22][26]. The conductance values of these molecular junctions were close to those of metal atomic contacts. The high electronic conductance is expected to be caused by effective metal–molecule couplings in the direct π

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

• through the molecule is still far from being complete, although significant progress has been made [4][5][6]. The main reasons are the complexity of the metal–molecule–metal junctions and their control on the atomic level. Even in the simplest case with a single molecule and well defined atomic contacts

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

• molecules using the MCBJ technique in a liquid environment at room temperature. We have investigated three different diarylethene molecules with a sulfur-free switching core to reduce the possibility of unspecific binding. The conductance has been examined during repeated breaking and forming of the atomic

• contacts. By analyzing the I–V curves within the framework of the single-level transport model, we are able to identify those contacts that are indeed formed by a single molecule. Under these conditions also asymmetric coupling situations can be achieved that can be explained by physisorption of one of the

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

• metallic contacts under the influence of external light fields. Various processes can be of relevance here, whose underlying mechanisms can be studied by comparing different kinds of atomic contacts. For this purpose two kinds of contacts, which were established by electrochemical deposition, forming a

• 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

Current-induced dynamics in carbon atomic contacts

• Jing-Tao Lü,
• Tue Gunst,
• Per Hedegård and
• Mads Brandbyge

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 814–823, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.90

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

• point contacts obtained by electrochemical deposition allowed the direct observation of the fingerprints of atom-by-atom and subsequent layer-by-layer growth of the metallic point contacts. We gave a complete quantitative description of the different stages of nanowire growth: First, individual-atomic

• contacts are formed, corresponding to only one or two atoms in their cross-sectional area. With increasing contact radius the conductance is dominated by the building of electronic shells, and finally the bulk crystallization leads to the dominance of geometric shells. Our experimental data are in

An MCBJ case study: The influence of π-conjugation on the single-molecule conductance at a solid/liquid interface

• Wenjing Hong,
• Hennie Valkenier,
• Gábor Mészáros,
• David Zsolt Manrique,
• Artem Mishchenko,
• Alexander Putz,
• Pavel Moreno García,
• Colin J. Lambert,
• Jan C. Hummelen and
• Thomas Wandlowski

Beilstein J. Nanotechnol. 2011, 2, 699–713, doi:10.3762/bjnano.2.76

• ), representing the breaking of gold–gold atomic contacts. The last step is observed around 1 G0. After the gold–gold monatomic contact is broken, the two “separated” gold electrodes snap back and a nanogap is created with typical conductances ranging between 10−2 G0 and 10−4 G0. The snap-back process is too fast