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Charge Transport Through a Cardan-Joint Molecule

  1. Mario Ruben1,*,
  2. Aitor Landa1,
  3. Emanuel Lörtscher2,*,
  4. Heike Riel2,
  5. Marcel Mayor4,
  6. Helmar Görls5,
  7. Heiko B. Weber6,
  8. Andreas Arnold1,
  9. Ferdinand Evers1,3,*

Article first published online: 18 NOV 2008

DOI: 10.1002/smll.200800390

Issue

Small

Small

Volume 4, Issue 12, pages 2229–2235, December 2008

Additional Information

How to Cite

Ruben, M., Landa, A., Lörtscher, E., Riel, H., Mayor, M., Görls, H., Weber, H. B., Arnold, A. and Evers, F. (2008), Charge Transport Through a Cardan-Joint Molecule. Small, 4: 2229–2235. doi: 10.1002/smll.200800390

Author Information

  1. 1

    Institute of Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology PF 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe (Germany)

  2. 2

    IBM Zurich Research Laboratory Säumerstrasse 4, 8803 Rüschlikon (Switzerland)

  3. 3

    Institut für Theorie der Kondensierten Materie Karlsruhe Institute of Technology PF 6980, 76128 Karlsruhe (Germany)

  4. 4

    Department of Chemistry, Universität Basel St. Johanns-Ring 19, 4056 Basel (Switzerland)

  5. 5

    Institut für Anorganische und Analytische Chemie, Universität Jena Agust-Bebel-Strasse 1, 07743 Jena (Germany)

  6. 6

    Institut für Angewandte Physik, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg Staudtstrasse 7, 91058 Erlangen (Germany)

*Institute of Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology PF 3640, 76021 Karlsruhe (Germany).

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 4 DEC 2008
  2. Article first published online: 18 NOV 2008
  3. Manuscript Revised: 24 JUN 2008
  4. Manuscript Received: 17 MAR 2008

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Keywords:

  • break junctions;
  • molecular electronics;
  • ruthenium complexes;
  • single-molecule studies

Abstract

The charge transport through a single ruthenium atom clamped by two terpyridine hinges is investigated, both experimentally and theoretically. The metal-bis(terpyridyl) core is equipped with rigid, conjugated linkers of para-acetyl-mercapto phenylacetylene to establish electrical contact in a two-terminal configuration using Au electrodes. The structure of the [RuII(L)2](PF6)2 molecule is determined using single-crystal X-ray crystallography, which yields good agreement with calculations based on density functional theory (DFT). By means of the mechanically controllable break-junction technique, current–voltage (I–V), characteristics of [RuII(L)2](PF6)2 are acquired on a single-molecule level under ultra-high vacuum (UHV) conditions at various temperatures. These results are compared to ab initio transport calculations based on DFT. The simulations show that the cardan-joint structural element of the molecule controls the magnitude of the current. Moreover, the fluctuations in the cardan angle leave the positions of steps in the I–V curve largely invariant. As a consequence, the experimental I–V characteristics exhibit lowest-unoccupied-molecular-orbit-based conductance peaks at particular voltages, which are also found to be temperature independent.

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