Conductance of a single molecule anchored by an isocyanide substituent to gold electrodes

Abstract

The effect of anchoring group on the electrical conductance of a single molecule bridging two Au electrodes was studied using di-substituted (isocyanide (CN-), thiol (S-) or cyanide (NC-)) benzene. The conductance of a single Au/1,4-diisocyanobenzene/Au junction anchored by isocyanide via a C atom (junction with the Au-CN bond) was $3\times 10^{-3}{G}_0$ ($2e^2/h$). The value was comparable to $4\times 10^{-3}{G}_0$ of a single Au/1,4-benzenedithiol/Au junction with the Au-S bond. The Au/1,4-dicyanobenzene/Au molecular junction with the Au-NC bond did not show well-defined conductance values. The metal-molecule bond strength was estimated by the distance over which the molecular junction was stretched before breakdown. The stretched length of the molecular junction with the Au-CN bond was comparable to that of the Au junction, indicating that the Au-CN bond was stronger than the Au-Au bond.

3 figures, to be appear in Appl. Phys. Lett

References in corpus (1)

• End group effect on electrical transport through individual molecules: A microscopic study

Cited by in corpus (4)

• Heat dissipation in atomic-scale junctions
• Heat dissipation and its relation to thermopower in single-molecule junctions
• Quantum interference through gated single-molecule junctions
• The electronic and transport properties of a molecular junction studied by an integrated piecewise thermal equilibrium approach