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Electron Transport Through a Single Molecule in Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Junction

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Molecular Architectonics

Part of the book series: Advances in Atom and Single Molecule Machines ((AASMM))

Abstract

A single-molecule junction (SMJ), a molecule bridging two metal electrodes, is a primitive model of molecular electronic devices and provides a unique platform to resolve fundamental questions how the electrical current flows through a single molecule and what functionality emerges arising from the original characteristics of the molecule. Recently, the conductance values of various molecules have been measured experimentally by using mechanically controllable break junction (MCBJ) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) junction. The accumulated database combined with first-principles theoretical calculations enables us to discuss the relation of the transport characteristics with the geometrical configuration of molecule in the junction, the molecule electronic structure and the molecule–electrode coupling. Although the conductance is always analyzed by using Landauer formula, it is still challenging to experimentally partition the conductance to the contributions from multiple transport channels and determine the total number of transport channels and their transmission probabilities. These quantities provide deeper insights on the electron transport through a single molecule and specify the SMJ like a personal identification number (PIN) code. This chapter describes a method to determine the “PIN” code based on multiple Andreev reflections (MARs) and demonstrates the application to a C60-SMJ fabricated with STM technique.

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Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge the support for this work by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas “Molecular Architectonics: Orchestration of Single Molecules for Novel Functions” (Grant Number 25110008).

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Author notes

  1. R. Hiraoka

    Present address: Tsukuba Material Development Laboratory, Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd, 6 Kitahara, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 300-3294, Japan

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Advanced Materials Science, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8651, Japan

    N. Takagi & R. Hiraoka

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  1. N. Takagi
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  2. R. Hiraoka
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Correspondence to N. Takagi .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan

    Takuji Ogawa

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Takagi, N., Hiraoka, R. (2017). Electron Transport Through a Single Molecule in Scanning Tunneling Microscopy Junction. In: Ogawa, T. (eds) Molecular Architectonics. Advances in Atom and Single Molecule Machines. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57096-9_14

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