Stabilizing single atom contacts by molecular bridge formation
arXiv:0810.1611 · doi:10.1021/nl801983z
Abstract
Gold-molecule-gold junctions can be formed by carefully breaking a gold wire in a solution containing dithiolated molecules. Surprisingly, there is little understanding on the mechanical details of the bridge formation process and specifically on the role that the dithiol molecules play themselves. We propose that alkanedithiol molecules have already formed bridges between the gold electrodes before the atomic gold-gold junction is broken. This leads to stabilization of the single atomic gold junction, as observed experimentally. Our data can be understood within a simple spring model.
14 pages, 3 figures, 1 table
References in corpus (10)
- Quantum properties of atomic-sized conductors
- Dependence of Single Molecule Junction Conductance on Molecular Conformation
- Formation and manipulation of a metallic wire of single gold atoms
- Single-Molecule Circuits with Well-Defined Molecular Conductance
- Charge Transport in Single Au|Alkanedithiol|Au Junctions: Coordination Geometries and Conformational Degrees of Freedom
- Mechanical properties and formation mechanisms of a wire of single gold atoms
- Electrical conductance of molecular junctions by a robust statistical analysis
- Lithographic mechanical break junctions for single-molecule measurements in vacuum: possibilities and limitations
- Formation of a Metallic Contact: Jump to Contact Revisited
- Single atom adhesion in optimized gold nanojunctions
Cited by in corpus (5)
- Advances and challenges in single-molecule electron transport
- Formation and Evolution of Single Molecule Junctions
- Atomically wired molecular junctions: Connecting a single organic molecule by chains of metal atoms
- Precursor configurations and post-rupture evolution of Ag-CO-Ag single-molecule junctions
- Role of charge transfer in hybridization-induced spin transition in metal-organic molecules