Molecular-Scale Electronics: Current Status and Perspectives

268 Pages·2019·51.901 MB·English

by  Xuefeng Guo

Topics in Current Chemistry Collections
Xuefeng Guo Editor
Molecular-
Scale
Electronics
Current Status and Perspectives
Topics in Current Chemistry Collections
Journal Editors
Massimo Olivucci, Siena, Italy and Bowling Green, USA
Wai-Yeung Wong, Hong Kong
Series Editors
Hagan Bayley, Oxford, UK
Greg Hughes, Codexis Inc, USA
Christopher A. Hunter, Cambridge, UK
Seong-Ju Hwang, Seoul, South Korea
Kazuaki Ishihara, Nagoya, Japan
Barbara Kirchner, Bonn, Germany
Michael J. Krische, Austin, USA
Delmar Larsen, Davis, USA
Jean-Marie Lehn, Strasbourg, France
Rafael Luque, Córdoba, Spain
Jay S. Siegel, Tianjin, China
Joachim Thiem, Hamburg, Germany
Margherita Venturi, Bologna, Italy
Chi-Huey Wong, Taipei, Taiwan
Henry N.C. Wong, Hong Kong
Vivian Wing-Wah Yam, Hong Kong
Chunhua Yan, Beijing, China
Shu-Li You, Shanghai, China
Aims and Scope
The series Topics in Current Chemistry Collections presents critical reviews from
the journal Topics in Current Chemistry organized in topical volumes. The scope
of coverage is all areas of chemical science including the interfaces with related
disciplines such as biology, medicine and materials science.
The goal of each thematic volume is to give the non-specialist reader, whether in
academia or industry, a comprehensive insight into an area where new research is
emerging which is of interest to a larger scientific audience.
Each review within the volume critically surveys one aspect of that topic and
places it within the context of the volume as a whole. The most significant
developments of the last 5 to 10 years are presented using selected examples to
illustrate the principles discussed. The coverage is not intended to be an
exhaustive summary of the field or include large quantities of data, but should
rather be conceptual, concentrating on the methodological thinking that will allow
the non-specialist reader to understand the information presented.
Contributions also offer an outlook on potential future developments in the field.
Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttp://www.springer.com/series/14181
Xuefeng Guo
Editor
Molecular-Scale Electronics
Current Status and Perspectives
With contributions from
Jie Bai • Huanli Dong • Xuefeng Guo • Wenjing Hong
Duan Hu • Gui-Chao Hu • Wenping Hu • Rongjin Li • Xiaohui Li
Zihao Liu • Takuji Ogawa • Shizhao Ren • Jia Shi • Hyunwook Song
Yang Song • Takashi Tamaki • Zhibing Tan • Chuan-Kui Wang
Kun Wang • Ling Wang • Lu Wang • Yu Wang • Dong Xiang
Zongyuan Xiao • Zhen Xie • Bingqian Xu • Yang Yang
Guang-Ping Zhang • Lei Zhang • Xiaotao Zhang • Weigang Zhu
Editor
Xuefeng Guo
Peking University
Beijing, China
Partly previously published in Top Curr Chem (Z) Volume 374 (2016); Top Curr Chem (Z)
V olume 375 (2017); Topics in Current Chemistry Volume 376 (2018).

ISSN 2367-4067
Topics in Current Chemistry Collections
ISBN 978-3-030-03304-0

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018961136

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019
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Contents
Preface . ............................................................................................................... vii
Modulation and Control of Charge Transport Through
Single-Molecule Junctions ................................................................................ 1
Kun Wang and Bingqian Xu: Top Curr Chem (Z) 2017, 2019:17
(24, January 2017) DOI 10.1007/s41061-017-0105-z
Advance of Mechanically Controllable Break Junction for Molecular
Electronics ......................................................................................................... 45
Lu Wang, Ling Wang, Lei Zhang and Dong Xiang: Top Curr Chem (Z) 2017,
2019:61 (24, May 2017) DOI 10.1007/s41061-017-0149-0
Supramolecular Systems and Chemical Reactions in Single-Molecule
Break Junctions ................................................................................................ 87
Xiaohui Li, Duan Hu, Zhibing Tan, Jie Bai, Zongyuan Xiao, Yang Yang,
Jia Shi and Wenjing Hong: Top Curr Chem (Z) 2017, 2019:42
(23, March 2017) DOI 10.1007/s41061-017-0123-x
Nonlinear and Nonsymmetric Single-Molecule Electronic Properties
Towards Molecular Information Processing ................................................. 107
Takashi Tamaki and Takuji Ogawa: Top Curr Chem (Z) 2017, 2019:79
(5, September 2017) DOI 10.1007/s41061-017-0167-y
Towards Rectifying Performance at the Molecular Scale ............................ 137
Guang-Ping Zhang, Zhen Xie, Yang Song, Gui-Chao Hu and
Chuan-Kui Wang: Top Curr Chem (Z) 2017, 2019:85 (24, October 2017)
https://doi.org/10.1007/s41061-017-0170-3
Switching Effects in Molecular Electronic Devices ....................................... 173
Zihao Liu, Shizhao Ren and Xuefeng Guo: Top Curr Chem (Z)
2017, 2019:56 (10, May 2017) DOI 10.1007/s41061-017-0144-5
v
Contents
Electrostatic Gate Control in Molecular Transistors . ................................... 207
Hyunwook Song: Topics in Current Chemistry 2018, 2019:37
(8, September 2018) https://doi.org/10.1007/s41061-018-0215-2
Organic Cocrystals: New Strategy for Molecular Collaborative
Innovation . ......................................................................................................... 229
Yu Wang, Weigang Zhu, Huanli Dong, Xiaotao Zhang, Rongjin Li
and Wenping Hu: Top Curr Chem (Z) 2016, 2019:83 (24, November 2016)
DOI 10.1007/s41061-016-0081-8

vi
Preface

What does the future hold for electronic devices? To what extent can their
dimensions be reduced in the future? The urgent need for miniaturizing silicon-
based microelectronics, which is extremely challenging, has inspired intensive
research in the field of molecular electronics for a few decades. The development
of efficient methodologies to integrate individual or small collections of molecules
into electrical nanocircuits is currently a research focus because it can not only
overcome the increasing difficulties and fundamental limitations of device
miniaturization, but can also enable us to understand the intrinsic properties of
materials at the atomic- and/or molecular-length scale. However, the question of
how to anchor individual molecules to two electrodes continuously confused
researchers throughout the world. This has been achieved thanks to the develop-
ment of advanced scanning probe microscopic techniques and computational models,
which have allowed reliable investigation and simulation of the conductance of
single molecules sandwiched between electrodes.
This collection embraces a broad range of topics in the field of molecular-scale
electronics from basic concepts and experimental investigations to theoretical
simulations and further applications. It gathers together leading specialists from
different disciplines, providing a deep overview of the current state of knowledge,
including recent advances, open questions, and comprehensive lists of references.
Although there are countless approaches of device fabrications and measurement
technologies, there are selected techniques upon which the most important studies
are based. The practical demonstration of these techniques is the hallmark of this
collection; these examples can serve as a passe-partout pertinent to understanding
device physics and underlying working mechanisms to many device-related
research that could not be covered in this collection. In this sense, I hope that they
are of good value to a wide spectrum of readers or researchers from other research
fields as well.
vii
Preface
K. Wang and B. Xu discuss various aspects of single-molecule junction
electronics, with an emphasis on the single-molecule break junction technique,
from the initial vision of molecular electronics, the development of experimental
techniques in creating single-molecule junctions and determining single-molecule
conductance, to the characterization of functional current-voltage features and
investigation of physical properties beyond charge transport, such as quantum
interference, heat transport, optoelectronics and spintronics. D. Xiang et al. provide
a systematic overview of four test-beds for single-molecule junctions, with a focus
on the development of state-of-the-art mechanically controlled break junctions,
where three-terminal gated approaches are discussed. W. Hong et al. review the
charge transport characterization of supramolecular junctions through a variety of
non−covalent interactions and the recent progress in the formation of highly
conductive molecular junctions via chemical reactions. T. Tamaki and T. Ogawa
highlight molecular design for non-linear and non-symmetric single-molecule
electronic properties, such as rectification, negative differential resistance, and
switching, which are important components for future single-molecule information
processing. C.-K. Wang et al. cover the theoretical and experimental progresses of
molecular diodes based on either charge or spin as well as the detailed analysis of
rectification mechanisms. X. Guo et al. summarize the strategies developed for
creating single-molecule electrical switches and the mechanism of their switching
effects, which is crucial for the development of molecular electronics. H. Song
reviews recent progresses in constructing and characterizing state-of-the-art
molecular transistors, in which the transport current is electrostatically or electro-
chemically modulated by direct orbital gating. Finally, W. Hu et al. show the
engineering concept of how to utilize organic cocrystals to constitute multi-
functional molecular optoelectronics, opening a complementary door for molecular
electronics.
We are pleased that, exactly as planned, this collection turned out to be very well
integrated, where each contribution focuses on a particular topic while still mutually
supporting each other. This collection offers a good starting point for students and
scientists who want to improve their understanding in the magic field of molecular
electronics.
We must acknowledge many prominent researchers that have contributed to this
work, some of them with articles, others with highly insightful comments, which
are invaluable to the success of this text. I personally would like to express my deep
thanks to the editorial staff of Topics in Current Chemistry and the editorial board
for choosing me to help organize this collection. We do hope that the readers will
enjoy the informative and enlightening journey.

viii
Preface

Xuefeng Guo

Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Sciences, State Key Laboratory for
Structural Chemistry of Unstable and Stable Species, College of Chemistry and
Molecular Engineering, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China.

Email: [email protected]
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