TY - JOUR
T1 - Probing Molecular-Transport Properties using the Superconducting Proximity Effect
AU - Katzir, Eran
AU - Sukenik, Nir
AU - Kalcheim, Yoav
AU - Alpern, Hen
AU - Yochelis, Shira
AU - Berlin, Yuri A.
AU - Ratner, Mark A.
AU - Millo, Oded
AU - Paltiel, Yossi
N1 - Funding Information:
The research was supported in parts by the Leverhulme Trust, grant no. IN-2013-033, a grant from the Academia Sinica ? Hebrew University Research Program and by the ISF Bikura grant (O.M. and Y.P.). O.M. thanks the Harry de Jur Chair in Applied Science for the financial support. Y.A.B and M.A.R acknowledge financial support of the US Department of Energy under Grant No. DE-FG02-96ER14684. They also thank Dr. F. C. Grozema and Prof. Dr. H. S. J. van der Zant for insightful discussions.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
PY - 2017/3
Y1 - 2017/3
N2 - Molecular electronics research focuses on the study and application of molecular building blocks for the fabrication of nanoscale electronic devices, and on utilizing their self-organization properties to achieve large-scale electronic circuits. One of the key issues in molecular electronics is to identify the mechanism governing the electrical conductivity along the molecules. More specifically, the problem is to determine whether the junction behaves as a tunnel barrier, or the junction provides electron or hole conduction channels through the molecule. Due to the large energy gap between the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO), it is usually assumed in calculations that the molecule may contain only one conducting channel either for electrons or for holes. Experimentally, measurements using a local-probe tip or a small gap between two metallic leads strongly depend on the nature of the linkage between the molecules and the contacts, which is hard to optimize. Here, a new approach is presented to study the electronic and transport properties of molecules using the superconducting proximity effect. Insight into these properties is gained by monitoring the modifications of the superconducting properties upon linking nanoparticles to a superconductor via the studied molecules.
AB - Molecular electronics research focuses on the study and application of molecular building blocks for the fabrication of nanoscale electronic devices, and on utilizing their self-organization properties to achieve large-scale electronic circuits. One of the key issues in molecular electronics is to identify the mechanism governing the electrical conductivity along the molecules. More specifically, the problem is to determine whether the junction behaves as a tunnel barrier, or the junction provides electron or hole conduction channels through the molecule. Due to the large energy gap between the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO), it is usually assumed in calculations that the molecule may contain only one conducting channel either for electrons or for holes. Experimentally, measurements using a local-probe tip or a small gap between two metallic leads strongly depend on the nature of the linkage between the molecules and the contacts, which is hard to optimize. Here, a new approach is presented to study the electronic and transport properties of molecules using the superconducting proximity effect. Insight into these properties is gained by monitoring the modifications of the superconducting properties upon linking nanoparticles to a superconductor via the studied molecules.
KW - density functional theory
KW - molecular electronics
KW - superconducting proximity effect
KW - transport through molecules
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U2 - 10.1002/smtd.201600034
DO - 10.1002/smtd.201600034
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85045582515
VL - 1
JO - Small Methods
JF - Small Methods
SN - 2366-9608
IS - 3
M1 - 1600034
ER -