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Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 046801 (2008) [4 pages]

Highly Conductive Molecular Junctions Based on Direct Binding of Benzene to Platinum Electrodes

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M. Kiguchi1,*, O. Tal1, S. Wohlthat2,3, F. Pauly3, M. Krieger1,†, D. Djukic1, J. C. Cuevas4,3, and J. M. van Ruitenbeek1
1Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands
2School of Chemistry, The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
3Institut für Theoretische Festkörperphysik and DFG-Center for Functional Nanostructures, Universität Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany
4Departamento de Física Teórica de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Received 5 March 2008; published 21 July 2008

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Highly conductive molecular junctions were formed by direct binding of benzene molecules between two Pt electrodes. Measurements of conductance, isotopic shift in inelastic spectroscopy, and shot noise compared with calculations provide indications for a stable molecular junction where the benzene molecule is preserved intact and bonded to the Pt leads via carbon atoms. The junction has a conductance comparable to that for metallic atomic junctions (around 0.1–1G0), where the conductance and the number of transmission channels are controlled by the molecule’s orientation at different interelectrode distances.

© 2008 The American Physical Society

URL:
http://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.046801
DOI:
10.1103/PhysRevLett.101.046801
PACS:
73.63.Rt, 31.10.+z, 73.40.−c

*Present address: Graduate School of Science, Hokkaido University, Sapporo, Japan, and JST-PRESTO

†Present address: Institute of Applied Physics, University of Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, Germany

 
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