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.

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.

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.

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.

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.