Single-molecule electronics: from chemical design to functional devices

Abstract

The use of single molecules in electronics represents the next limit of miniaturisation of electronic devices, which would enable us to continue the trend of aggressive downscaling of silicon-based electronic devices. More significantly, the fabrication, understanding and control of fully functional circuits at the single-molecule level could also open up the possibility of using molecules as devices with novel, not-foreseen functionalities beyond complementary metal-oxide semiconductor technology (CMOS). This review aims at highlighting the chemical design and synthesis of single molecule devices as well as their electrical and structural characterization, including a historical overview and the developments during the last 5 years. We discuss experimental techniques for fabrication of single-molecule junctions, the potential application of single-molecule junctions as molecular switches, and general physical phenomena in single-molecule electronic devices.

Enhanced Cooperativity in Supported Spin-Crossover Metal–Organic Frameworks

“…A contrasted scenario is observed when T4PT is substituted by (p-IC 6 H 4 )B(pz) 3 . The adiabatic energy difference is much reduced and remains positive, ∆E adia =140 meV (Figure 3c).…”

“…2,3 More recently, molecules entered the field of spintronics, i.e. the control and manipulation of spins, 4 and gave birth to molecular spintronics, [5][6][7][8] where the working principle of the targeted devices relies on bistability.…”

“…As the periodicities of both patterns now differ, we used a single unit consisting of one Fe center and its coordination sphere, i.e. three T4PT and one (p-IC 6 H 4 )B(pz) 3 ligands, on top of a large gold layer. Out of Bader analysis, the charge redistribution on the Fe center along the transition is calculated ∆Q = 0.64 e − .…”

“…The geometry and electronic structure of Fe-T4PT network were characterized and concluded on a HS ground-state excluding any SCO Page 10 of 15 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 A c c e p t e d m a n u s c r i p t behavior. Nevertheless, we identified a promising (p-IC 6 H 4 )B(pz) 3 ligand to construct a spin transiting Au-supported MOF. Quite remarkably, such substitution allows one to satisfy a positive and small enough value (140 meV) for the enthalpy change.…”

Near omni-conductors and insulators: Alternant hydrocarbons in the SSP model of ballistic conduction

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13] Sophisticated ab initio techniques can be applied to simulation of individual devices, [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] but there is a parallel tradition of devising simple models for families of devices. One attractive qualitative approach to the problem of ballistic conduction of electrons through molecules is the SSP (source-and-sink potential) model, proposed by Ernzerhof and co-workers.…”