Signature of adsorbed solvents for molecular electronics revealed via scanning tunneling microscopy

Ara, Tamara de; Sabater, C.; Carla, Borja-Espinosa,; Ferrer-Alcaraz, Patricia; Baciu, Bianca C.; Guijarro, Albert; Untiedt, Carlos

doi:10.1016/j.matchemphys.2022.126645

Cited by 2 publications

(10 citation statements)

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“…The combination of our previous findings and the results presented in this article reveal that the solvents benzene, cyclohexane, and toluene are never fully evaporated and remain adsorbed on the electrodes. Our simulations, calculations, and experiments thus allow us to obtain the characteristic conductance values of these solvents, such that when they are employed alongside other target molecules in future experiments, we will be able to clearly distinguish the conductance signatures of the solvents and their geometric relationships with the electrodes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…STM-Break Junction Experiments. Following the procedure detailed by de Ara et al, 19 the molecular electronics experiments were performed by the STM-BJ approach under ambient conditions. As electrodes, we used two gold wires (0.5 mm in diameter and of 99.99% purity as supplied by Goodfellow 50 ), whose cylindrical surfaces were faced against each other in a perpendicular configuration.…”

Section: ■ Materials and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The current through our molecular junctions was converted into volts in three stages of the current−voltage amplifier with respective gains of 10 6 , 10 8 , and 10 9 V/A, in order to be recorded by analogue to digital converter (ADC) for the data acquisition (DAQ) system. This homemade instrument was tested and used in a previous publication, 19 and it allows to record conductance in the range of G 0 to 10 −5 G 0 . Knowing the applied bias voltage and current, we can easily calculate the conductance, which is expressed in quantum of conductance (G 0 = 2e 2 /h), where the factor of 2 comes from the spin degeneracy, e is the charge of the electron, and h is the Planck's constant.…”

Section: ■ Materials and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is still widely believed that the solvent disappears or has a negligible effect on electronic transport after evaporation . However, recent works have demonstrated that the solvent’s presence is indeed detectable via scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) topography and STM-break junction (BJ) experiments. In our previous published experimental results, we identified the molecular electronic signature of the aromatic (benzene and toluene) and aliphatic (cyclohexane) molecules. , Although studies have been conducted on the orientation of aromatic solvents with methyl anchoring groups, such as 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene, , there have been no systematic studies exploring the relationship between the electronic transport and the geometric orientation for solvents without anchoring groups, such as benzene, toluene, or cyclohexane.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The molecular electronics field initially considered very simple molecules like diatomic hydrogen and deuterium, which paved the way for obtaining knowledge from an experimental point of view. For various reasons and based on attempts at trying to identify exotic properties in the electronic transport field, innumerable types of different molecules have been studied. − The creation of a molecular junction basically depends on its physical state and the method of deposition of the molecules, which can be grouped into three categories. The first one corresponds to the gas phase molecules, which are associated with the unique possibility of blowing the gas close to the electrodes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Unraveling the Interplay between Quantum Transport and Geometrical Conformations in Monocyclic Hydrocarbons’ Molecular Junctions

Martinez-Garcia,

de Ara,

Pastor-Amat

et al. 2023

J. Phys. Chem. C

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In the field of molecular electronics, especially in quantum transport experiments, determining the geometrical configurations of a single molecule trapped between two electrodes can be challenging. To address this challenge, we employed a combination of molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and electronic transport calculations based on density functional theory to determine the molecular orientation in our break-junction experiments under ambient conditions. The molecules used in this study are common solvents used in molecular electronics, such as benzene, toluene (aromatic), and cyclohexane (aliphatic). Furthermore, we introduced a novel criterion based on the normal vector of the surface formed by the cavity of these ring-shaped monocyclic hydrocarbon molecules to clearly define the orientation of the molecules with respect to the electrodes. By comparing the results obtained through MD simulations and density functional theory with experimental data, we observed that both are in good agreement. This agreement helps us to uncover the different geometrical configurations that these molecules adopt in break-junction experiments. This approach can significantly improve our understanding of molecular electronics, especially when using more complex cyclic hydrocarbons.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: ■ Materials and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: ■ Materials and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%