Single-molecule electrical contacts on silicon electrodes under ambient conditions

The ultimate goal in molecular electronics is to use individual molecules as the active electronic component of a real-world sturdy device. For this concept to become reality, it will require the field of single-molecule electronics to shift towards the semiconducting platform of the current microel...

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Main Authors: Aragones, A., Darwish, Nadim, Ciampi, Simone, Sanz, F., Gooding, J., Diez-Perez, I.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Macmillan Publishers Limited 2017
Online Access:http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DE160101101
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/52310
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author Aragones, A.
Darwish, Nadim
Ciampi, Simone
Sanz, F.
Gooding, J.
Diez-Perez, I.
author_facet Aragones, A.
Darwish, Nadim
Ciampi, Simone
Sanz, F.
Gooding, J.
Diez-Perez, I.
author_sort Aragones, A.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description The ultimate goal in molecular electronics is to use individual molecules as the active electronic component of a real-world sturdy device. For this concept to become reality, it will require the field of single-molecule electronics to shift towards the semiconducting platform of the current microelectronics industry. Here, we report silicon-based single-molecule contacts that are mechanically and electrically stable under ambient conditions. The single-molecule contacts are prepared on silicon electrodes using the scanning tunnelling microscopy break-junction approach using a top metallic probe. The molecular wires show remarkable current–voltage reproducibility, as compared to an open silicon/nano-gap/metal junction, with current rectification ratios exceeding 4,000 when a low-doped silicon is used. The extension of the single-molecule junction approach to a silicon substrate contributes to the next level of miniaturization of electronic components and it is anticipated it will pave the way to a new class of robust single-molecule circuits.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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last_indexed 2025-11-14T09:51:17Z
publishDate 2017
publisher Macmillan Publishers Limited
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-523102022-09-07T01:53:01Z Single-molecule electrical contacts on silicon electrodes under ambient conditions Aragones, A. Darwish, Nadim Ciampi, Simone Sanz, F. Gooding, J. Diez-Perez, I. The ultimate goal in molecular electronics is to use individual molecules as the active electronic component of a real-world sturdy device. For this concept to become reality, it will require the field of single-molecule electronics to shift towards the semiconducting platform of the current microelectronics industry. Here, we report silicon-based single-molecule contacts that are mechanically and electrically stable under ambient conditions. The single-molecule contacts are prepared on silicon electrodes using the scanning tunnelling microscopy break-junction approach using a top metallic probe. The molecular wires show remarkable current–voltage reproducibility, as compared to an open silicon/nano-gap/metal junction, with current rectification ratios exceeding 4,000 when a low-doped silicon is used. The extension of the single-molecule junction approach to a silicon substrate contributes to the next level of miniaturization of electronic components and it is anticipated it will pave the way to a new class of robust single-molecule circuits. 2017 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/52310 10.1038/ncomms15056 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DE160101101 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DE160100732 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Macmillan Publishers Limited fulltext
spellingShingle Aragones, A.
Darwish, Nadim
Ciampi, Simone
Sanz, F.
Gooding, J.
Diez-Perez, I.
Single-molecule electrical contacts on silicon electrodes under ambient conditions
title Single-molecule electrical contacts on silicon electrodes under ambient conditions
title_full Single-molecule electrical contacts on silicon electrodes under ambient conditions
title_fullStr Single-molecule electrical contacts on silicon electrodes under ambient conditions
title_full_unstemmed Single-molecule electrical contacts on silicon electrodes under ambient conditions
title_short Single-molecule electrical contacts on silicon electrodes under ambient conditions
title_sort single-molecule electrical contacts on silicon electrodes under ambient conditions
url http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DE160101101
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DE160101101
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/52310