Electrostatic Control over Temperature-Dependent Tunneling across a Single Molecule Junction

Abstract

Understanding how the mechanism of charge transport through molecular tunnel junctions depends on temperature is crucial to control electronic function in molecular electronic devices. With just a few systems investigated as a function of bias and temperature so far, thermal effects in molecular tunnel junctions remain poorly understood. Here we report a detailed charge transport study of an individual redox-active ferrocene-based molecule over a wide range of temperatures and applied potentials. The results show the temperature dependence of the current to vary strongly as a function of the gate voltage. Specifically, the current across the molecule exponentially increases in the Coulomb blockade regime and decreases at the charge degeneracy points, while remaining temperature-independent at resonance. Our observations can be well accounted for by a formal single-level tunneling model where the temperature dependence relies on the thermal broadening of the Fermi distributions of the electrons in the leads.

arXiv comment37 pages, 13 figures

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Cited by in corpus (6)

• Large-area, ensemble molecular electronics: Motivation and challenges
• A Single-Level Tunnel Model to Account for Electrical Transport through Single Molecule- and Self-Assembled Monolayer-based Junctions
• A Silicon Cluster Based Single Electron Transistor with Potential Room-Temperature Switching
• The spinterface mechanism for the chiral-induced spin selectivity effect: A Critical Perspective
• Charge Transport and Entropy Production Rate in Magnetically Active Molecular Dimer
• How to distinguish between interacting and noninteracting molecules in tunnel junctions