Electron Transfer through Molecules and Assemblies at Electrode Surfaces

Nanogap Electrodes

“…Representative results on the applications of nanogap electrodes in nano-and single molecular devices have been summarized by several authoritative reviews. [164][165][166][167][168][169][170][171][172][173] Limited by the capacity of the present paper, we do not plan to overlap these reviewed topics, and only focus on the possibility of combining conjugated polymers with nanogap electrodes, in order to introduce the properties associated with conjugated polymers into such nanodevices. Based on our recent experience, [156,[174][175][176][177] we will exemplify this combination using a Since the discovery of conductive polymers in the 1970s, thousands of conjugated polymers have been synthesized and investigated, and some have been successfully applied in polymer electronics since the 1990s.…”

The role of interfaces in organic spin valves revealed through spectroscopic and transport measurements

“…They found that the work function of LSMO and Co decreased by 0.9 and 1.4 eV, respectively, upon adsorption of Alq 3 . When Alq 3 was adsorbed on LSMO only a single N(1s) peak was observed, which indicated a very small perturbation of the electronic structure of Alq 3 . In contrast, a very large perturbation in the electronic structure was observed for Alq 3 adsorption on Co and Fe surfaces [24].…”

“…Hence, one must first consider tunneling as the primary mechanism for charge/spin transfer across such interfaces. Transport, primarily via tunneling, in structures where a single molecular layer is sandwiched between metal electrodes has been extensively studied and well documented over the past few decades [3]. However, much less is known about spin-dependent tunneling mechanisms across FM/molecule interfaces.…”

“…If the HOMO is known then the assumption is that the optical gap can be added to locate the LUMO, but it is difficult to use optical methods to precisely pin down the LUMO position and there is considerable uncertainty in the values. Figure 2 illustrates three different ways often used to designate the HOMO-LUMO separation for Alq 3 . In the panel on the left, the LUMO and HOMO energies measured by IPES and UPS are indicated [11].…”

“…However, there is much less known about the electronic structure at FM/OSC interfaces. We begin by describing what is known about the adsorption of Alq 3 and CuPc on Co, Fe, and LSMO surfaces, since these combinations have been used in several spin-valve devices.…”