WEDNESDAY 09:00
‘GONE FISHING’: STUDYING METAL | MOLECULE | METAL JUNCTIONS WITH SCANNING PROBE MICROSCOPY
Simon J. Higgins
Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZD, U.K.
ABSTRACT
‘Molecular electronics’, the science of using individual molecules or small assemblies of molecules to perform some electrical function, was greatly boosted by the evolution, some 15 years ago, of several techniques for making and characterising metal / single molecule / metal junctions. These have been used to address some key questions, such as: how does charge flow through molecules, and how can one make a better ‘molecular wire’? Can we make a molecular diode or, even better, a transistor? Can we develop devices with molecules that are difficult or impossible to make with inorganic technologies? In this talk, I will describe our efforts to address each of these questions, using scanning probe microscopy-based methods to form and characterise metal / molecule / metal junctions. First, the use of redox-active molecules to make electrochemically-gated single molecule devices will be described. The talk will go on to consider the making and understanding of so-called ‘molecular double tunnelling barrier’ molecules, and using these to make potential single molecule sensor devices.