The fabrication,characterization and functionalization in molecular electronics

Developments in advanced manufacturing have promoted the miniaturization of semiconductor electronic devices to a near-atomic scale,which continuously follows the‘top-down’construction method.However,huge challenges have been encountered with the exponentially increased cost and inevitably prominent quantum effects.Molecular electronics is a highly interdisciplinary subject that studies the quantum behavior of electrons tunneling in molecules.It aims to assemble electronic devices in a‘bottom-up’manner on this scale through a single molecule,thereby shedding light on the future design of logic circuits with new operating principles.The core technologies in this field are based on the rapid development of precise fabrication at a molecular scale,regulation at a quantum scale,and related applications of the basic electronic component of the‘electrode-molecule-electrode junction’.Therefore,the quantum charge transport properties of the molecule can be controlled to pave the way for the bottom-up construction of single-molecule devices.The review firstly focuses on the collection and classification of the construction methods for molecular junctions.Thereafter,various characterization and regulation methods for molecular junctions are discussed,followed by the properties based on tunneling theory at the quantum scale of the corresponding molecular electronic devices.Finally,a summary and perspective are given to discuss further challenges and opportunities for the future design of electronic devices.

XMe - Xiamen Molecular Electronics Code:An Intelligent and Open-Source Data Analysis Tool for Single-Molecule Conductance Measurements

Charge transport characterization of single-molecule junctions is essential for the fundamental research of single-molecule physical chemistry and the development towards single-molecule electronic devices and circuits. Among the single-molecule conductance characterization techniques,the single-molecule break junction technique is widely used in tens of worldwide research laboratories which can generate a large amount of experimental data from thousands of individual measurement cycles. However,data interpretation is a challenging task for researchers with different research backgrounds,and the different data analysis approaches sometimes lead to the misunderstanding of the measurement data and even reproducibility issues of the measurement. It is thus a necessity to develop a user-friendly all-in-one data analysis tool that automatizes the basic data analysis in a standard and widely accepted way. In this work,we present the XMe Code (Xiamen Molecular Electronics Code),an intelligent all-in-one data analysis tool for the comprehensive analysis of single-molecule break junction data. XMe code provides end-to-end data analysis that takes in the original experimental data and returns electronic characteristics and even charge transport mechanisms. We believe that XMe Code will promote the transparency of the data analysis in single-molecule electronics and the collaborations among scientists with different research backgrounds.

Tuning the type of charge carriers in N-heterocyclic carbene-based molecular junctions through electrodes

Designing tunable molecular devices with different charge carriers in single-molecule junctions is crucial to the nextgeneration electronic technology.Recently,it has been demonstrated that the type of charge carriers depends on and can be tuned by controlling the molecular length and the number of interfacial covalent bonds.In this study,we show that the type of charge carriers can also be tuned by controlling the material and shape of electrodes.N-heterocyclic carbenes(NHCs)have attracted attention because of their ability to form strong,substitutional inert bonds in a variety of metals.Also,NHCs are more stable than the widely used thiol group.Therefore,we use electrodes to tune the type of charge carriers in a series of NHCs with different side groups.The ab initio calculations based on non-equilibrium Green’s formalism combined with density functional theory show that the dominant charge carrier switches from electrons to holes when gold electrodes are changed into platinum ones.The nature of the charge carriers can be identified by variations in the transport spectra at the Fermi level(EF),which are caused by the side groups.The projections of transport spectra onto the central molecules further validate our inferences.In addition,the transmission coefficient at EF is found to be dependent on the atomic interface structure.In particular,for the NHC without methyl or ethyl side groups,connecting a protruding atom on the electrode surface significantly enhances the transportability of both electrode materials.Overall,this study presents an effective approach to modifying transport properties,which has potential applications in designing functional molecular devices based on NHCs.

The effects of contact configurations on the rectification of dipyrimidinyl-diphenyl diblock molecular junctions

The transport properties of a conjugated dipyrimidinyl-diphenyl diblock oligomer sandwiched between two gold electrodes, as recently reported by [Diez-Perez et al. Nature Chem. 1 635 （2009）], are theoretically investigated using the fully self-consistent nonequilibrium Green＇s function method combined with density functional theory. Two kinds of symmetrical anchoring geometries are considered. Calculated current-voltage curves show that the contact structure has a strong effect on the rectification behaviour of the molecular diode. For the equilateral triangle configuration, pronounced rectification behaviour comparable to the experimental measurement is revealed, and the theoretical analysis indicates that the observed rectification characteristic results from the asymmetric shift of the perturbed molecular energy levels under bias voltage. While for the tetrahedron configuration, both rectification and negative differential conductivity behaviours are observed. The calculated results further prove the close dependence of the transporting characteristics of molecular junctions on contact configuration.

Effect of crystallographic orientations on transport properties of methylthiol-terminated permethyloligosilane molecular junction

The understanding of the influence of electrode characteristics on charge transport is essential in the field of molecular electronics.In this work,we investigate the electronic transport properties of molecular junctions comprising methylthiolterminated permethyloligosilanes and face-centered crystal Au/Ag electrodes with crystallographic orientations of(111)and(100),based on the ab initio quantum transport simulations.The calculations reveal that the molecular junction conductance is dominated by the electronic coupling between two interfacial metal–S bonding states,which can be tuned by varying the molecular length,metal material of the electrodes,and crystallographic orientation.As the permethyloligosilane backbone elongates,although theσconjugation increases,the decreasing of coupling induced by the increasing number of central Si atoms reduces the junction conductance.The molecular junction conductance of methylthiol-terminated permethyloligosilanes with Au electrodes is higher than that with Ag electrodes with a crystallographic orientation of(111).However,the conductance trend is reversed when the electrode crystallographic orientation varies from(111)to(100),which can be ascribed to the reversal of interfacial coupling between two metal–S interfacial states.These findings are conducive to elucidating the mechanism of molecular junctions and improving the transport properties of molecular devices by adjusting the electrode characteristics.

Nonequilibrium Solvent Free Energy Curve from Molecular Theory in Electron Transfer Reaction

The microscopic moleeular theory for electron transfer in a model solvent ishahr developed. The nonlinear response of the solvent molecules is be computedquanitatively in a new way. Adopting computer simulation daa and choosingappropriate reaction coordinae, a reasonable free energy dinram is constructed and thercorganhaion energy for the product state is calculated.

LOCALIZED MOLECULAR ORBITAL STUDY ON ELECTRONIC STRUCTURES OF BOWL-SHAPED AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS

The localized molecular orbitals for typical bowl-shaped circulenes are obtained by the use of INDO-LMO method. It is found that these bowl-shaped circulenes with strained π-electron systems are still aromatic and the rim π-bonds with larger localization form reactive regions for formation of buckminsterfullerene.

Tuning the Electronic Structure of Sr2IrO4 Thin Films by Bulk Electronic Doping Using Molecular Beam Epitaxy

By means of oxide molecular beam epitaxy with shutter-growth mode, we fabricate a series of electron-doped （Sr1-xLax）2IrO4 （001） （x=0, 0.05, 0.1 and 0.15） single crystalline thin films and then investigate the doping dependence of the electronic structure utilizing in-situ angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. It is found that with the increasing doping content, the Fermi levels of samples progressively shift upward. Prominently, an extra electron pocket crossing the Fermi level around the M point is evidently observed in the 15% nominal doping sample. Moreover, bulk-sensitive transport measurements confirm that the doping effectively suppresses the insulating state with respect to the as-grown Sr2IrO4, though the doped samples still remain insulating at low temperatures due to the localization effect possibly stemming from disorders including oxygen deficiencies. Our work provides another feasible doping method to tune electronic structure of Sr2 IrO4.

Effect of Chirality on the Electronic Transport Properties of the Thioxanthene-Based Molecular Switch

Based on the nonequilibrium Green function method and density functional theory calculations, we theoretically investigate the effect of chirality on the electronic transport properties of thioxanthene-based molecular switch. The molecule comprises the switch which can exhibit different chiralities, that is, cis-form and trans-form by ultraviolet or visible irradiation. The results clearly reveal that the switching behaviors can be realized when the molecule converts between cis-form and trans-form. ~urthermore, the on-off ratio can be modulated by the chirality of the carbon nanotube electrodes. The maximum on-off ratio can reach 109 at 0.4 V for the armchair junction, suggesting potential applications of this type of junctions in future design of functional molecular devices.

The inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy of edge-modified graphene nanoribbon-based molecular devices

The inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy（IETS） of four edge-modified finite-size grapheme nanoribbon（GNR）-based molecular devices has been studied by using the density functional theory and Green＇s function method. The effects of atomic structures and connection types on inelastic transport properties of the junctions have been studied. The IETS is sensitive to the electrode connection types and modification types. Comparing with the pure hydrogen edge passivation systems, we conclude that the IETS for the lower energy region increases obviously when using donor–acceptor functional groups as the edge modification types of the central scattering area. When using donor–acceptor as the electrode connection groups, the intensity of IETS increases several orders of magnitude than that of the pure ones. The effects of temperature on the inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy also have been discussed. The IETS curves show significant fine structures at lower temperatures. With the increasing of temperature, peak broadening covers many fine structures of the IETS curves.The changes of IETS in the low-frequency region are caused by the introduction of the donor–acceptor groups and the population distribution of thermal particles. The effect of Fermi distribution on the tunneling current is persistent.

Electron Transport Properties of Two-Dimensional Si_1P_1 Molecular Junctions

We focus on two new 21） materials, i.e., monolayer and bilayer silicon phosphides （Sil P1）. Based on the elastic- scattering Green＇s function, the electronic-transport properties of two-dimensional monolayer and bilayer Au- Si1P1-Au molecular junctions are studied. It is found that their bandgaps are narrow （0.16eV for a monolayer molecular junction and 0.26 e V for a bilayer molecular junction）. Moreover, the calculated current-voltage char- acteristics indicate that the monolayer molecular junction provides constant output current （20 hA） over a wide voltage range, and the bilayer molecular junction provides higher current （42 hA）.

Interfacial Charge Transfer Induced Electronic Property Tuning of MoS_2 by Molecular Functionalization

The modulation of electrical properties of MoS_2 has attracted extensive research interest because of its potential applications in electronic and optoelectronic devices.Herein,interfacial charge transfer induced electronic property tuning of MoS_2 are investigated by in situ ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy and x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy measurements.A downward band-bending of MoS_2-related electronic states along with the decreasing work function,which are induced by the electron transfer from Cs overlayers to MoS_2,is observed after the functionalization of MoS_2 with Cs,leading to n-type doping.Meanwhile,when MoS_2 is modified with 2,3,5,6-tetrafluoro-7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane(F_4-TCNQ),an upward band-bending of MoS_2-related electronic states along with the increasing work function is observed at the interfaces.This is attributed to the electron depletion within MoS_2 due to the strong electron withdrawing property of F_4-TCNQ,indicating p-type doping of MoS_2.Our findings reveal that surface transfer doping is an effective approach for electronic property tuning of MoS_2 and paves the way to optimize its performance in electronic and optoelectronic devices.

Non-covalent interaction-based molecular electronics with graphene electrodes

Recent years have witnessed the fabrication of various non-covalent interaction-based molecular electronic devices.In the noncovalent interaction-based molecular devices,the strength of the interfacial coupling between molecule and electrode is weakened compared to that of the covalent interaction-based molecular devices,which provides wide applications in fabricating versatile molecular devices.In this review,we start with the methods capable of fabricating graphene-based nanogaps,and the following routes to construct non-covalent interaction-based molecular junctions with graphene electrodes.Then we give an introduction to the reported non-covalent interaction-based molecular devices with graphene electrodes equipped with different electrical functions.Moreover,we summarize the recent progress in the design and fabrication of new-type molecular devices based on graphene and graphene-like two-dimensional(2D)materials.The review ends with a prospect on the challenges and opportunities of non-covalent interaction-based molecular electronics in the near future.

Electrically Driven Nonresonant Single Molecular Switches

Electrical switching of a single-molecule junction provides a practical module to perform sophisticated operations in electronic devices.However,designing an all-electrically-driven molecular switch is a great challenge.Here,we experimentally and theoretically investigated the charge transport characteristics of isoindigo(ISO)-molecules at the single-molecule level using the scanning tunneling microscope break junction technique.We find that the single-molecule junctions of ISO-molecules display bias voltage-driven switching characteristics.These switches are realtime,reversible,and nondestructive under low-bias voltages.Experimental results show that the mechanism of the switch is not the transition from nonresonant charge transport to resonant charge transport,but it is the shift of the frontier orbital energy levels of ISO-molecules and the change of the interfacial electronic coupling with bias voltage.Our results will advance the design of high-performance bias voltage-driven molecular switches.

Single-chain and monolayered conjugated polymers for molecular electronics

Exploring the charge transport properties and electronic functions of molecules is of primary interest in the area of molecular electronics.Conjugated polymers（CPs） represent an attractive class of molecular candidates,benefiting from their outstanding optoelectronic properties.However,they have been less studied compared with the small-molecule family,mainly due to the difficulties in incorporating CPs into molecular junctions.In this review,we present a summary on how to fabricate CP-based singlechain and monolayered junctions,then discuss the transport behaviors of CPs in different junction architectures and finally introduce the potential applications of CPs in molecular-scale electronic devices.Although the research on CP-based molecular electronics is still at the initial stage,it is widely accepted that（1） CP chains are able to mediate long-range charge transport if their molecular electronic structures are properly designed,which makes them potential molecular wires,and（2） the intrinsic optoelectronic properties of CPs and the possibility of incorporating desirable functionalities by synthetic strategies imply the potential of employing tailor-made polymeric components as alternatives to small molecules for future molecular-scale electronics.

Molecular-scale electronics： From device fabrication to functionality

By wiring molecules into circuits, ＂molecular electronics＂ aims at studying electronic properties of single molecules and their ensembles, on this basis exploiting their intrinsic functionalities, and eventually applying them as building blocks of electronic components for future electronic devices. Herein, fabricating reliable solid-state molecular devices and developing synthetic molecules endowed with desirable electronic properties, have been two major tasks since the dawn of molecular electronics. This review focuses on recent advances and efforts regarding the main challenges in this field, highlighting fabrication of nanogap electrodes for single-molecule junctions, and self-assembled-monolayers （SAMs） for functional devices. The prospect of molecular-scale electronics is also discussed.

Splitting and Restoration of Kondo Peak in a Deformed Molecule Quantum Dot Coupled to Ferromagnetic Electrodes

We adopt the nonequilibrium Green＇s function method to theoretically study the Kondo effect in a deformed molecule, which is treated as an electron-phonon interaction （EPI） system. The self-energy for phonon part is calculated in the standard many-body diagrammatic expansion up to the second order in EPI strength. We find that the multiple phonon-assisted Kondo satellites arise besides the usual Kondo resonance. In the antiparallel magnetic configuration the splitting of main Kondo peak and phonon-assisted satellites only happen for asymmetrical dot-lead couplings, but it is free from the symmetry for the parallel magnetic configuration. The EPI strength and vibrational frequency can enhance the spin splitting of both main Kondo and satellites. It is shown that the suppressed zero-bias Kondo resonance can be restored by applying an external magnetic field, whose magnitude is dependent on the phononic effect remarkably. Although the asymmetry in tunnel coupling has no contribution to the restoration of spin splitting of Kondo peak, it can shrink the external field needed to switch tunneling magnetoresistance ratio between large negative dip and large positive peak.

Exploring how hydrogen at gold-sulfur interface affects spin transport in single-molecule junction

Very recently,experimental evidence showed that the hydrogen is retained in dithiol-terminated single-molecule junction under the widely adopted preparation conditions,which is in contrast to the accepted view[Nat.Chem.11351(2019)].However,the hydrogen is generally assumed to be lost in the previous physical models of single-molecule junctions.Whether the retention of the hydrogen at the gold-sulfur interface exerts a significant effect on the theoretical prediction of spin transport properties is an open question.Therefore,here in this paper we carry out a comparative study of spin transport in M-tetraphenylporphyrin-based(M=V,Cr,Mn,Fe,and Co;M-TPP)single-molecule junction through Au-SR and Au-S(H)R bondings.The results show that the hydrogen at the gold-sulfur interface may dramatically affect the spin-filtering efficiency of M-TPP-based single-molecule junction,depending on the type of transition metal ions embedded into porphyrin ring.Moreover,we find that for the Co-TPP-based molecular junction,the hydrogen at the gold-sulfur interface has no obvious effect on transmission at the Fermi level,but it has a significant effect on the spin-dependent transmission dip induced by the quantum interference on the occupied side.Thus the fate of hydrogen should be concerned in the physical model according to the actual preparation condition,which is important for our fundamental understanding of spin transport in the single-molecule junctions.Our work also provides guidance in how to experimentally identify the nature of gold-sulfur interface in the single-molecule junction with spin-polarized transport.

Low-Bias Conductance Mechanism of Diarylethene Isomers:a First-Principle Study

The structure-property relationship of diarylethene(DAE)-derivative molecular isomers,which involve ring-closed and ring-open forms,is investigated by employing the nonequilibrium Green’s function formalism combined with density functional theory.Molecular junctions are formed by the isomers connecting to Au(111)electrodes through flanked pyridine groups.The difference in electronic structures caused by different geometry structures for the two isomers,particularly the interatomic alternative single bond and double bond of the ring-closed molecule,contributes to the vastly different low-bias conductance values.The lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(LUMO)of the isomers is the main channel for electron transport.In addition,more electrons transferred to the ring-closed molecular junction in the equilibrium condition,thereby decreasing the LUMO energy to near the Fermi energy,which may contribute to a larger conductance value at the Fermi level.Our findings are helpful for understanding the mechanism of low-bias conductance and are conducive to the design of high-performance molecular switching based on diarylethene or diarylethene-derivative molecules.

Device design based on the covalent homocouplingof porphine molecules

Porphine has a great potential application in molecular electronic devices.In this work,based on the density functional theory(DFT)and combining with nonequilibrium Green's function(NEGF),we study the transport properties of the molecular devices constructed by the covalent homocoupling of porphine molecules conjunction with zigzag graphene nanoribbons electrodes.We find that different couple phases bring remarkable differences in the transport properties.Different coupling phases have different application prospects.We analyze and discuss the differences in transport properties through the molecular energy spectrum,electrostatic difference potential,local density of states(LDOS),and transmission pathway.The results are of great significance for the design of porphine molecular devices in the future.