Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, 78457 Konstanz, Germany.
ACS Nano. 2011 May 24;5(5):4104-11. doi: 10.1021/nn200759s. Epub 2011 Apr 27.
A combined experimental and theoretical analysis of the charge transport through single-molecule junctions is performed to define the influence of molecular end groups for increasing electrode separation. For both amine-ended and thiol-ended octanes contacted to gold electrodes, we study signatures of chain formation by analyzing kinks in conductance traces, the junction length, and inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy. The results show that for amine-ended molecular junctions no atomic chains are pulled under stretching, whereas the Au electrodes strongly deform for thiol-ended molecular junctions. This advanced approach hence provides unambiguous evidence that the amine anchors bind only weakly to Au.
通过对单分子结的电荷输运进行实验和理论分析，定义了增加电极分离对分子端基的影响。对于与金电极接触的胺封端和硫醇封端的辛烷，我们通过分析电导轨迹、结长度和非弹性电子隧道谱中的拐点来研究链形成的特征。结果表明，对于胺封端的分子结，在拉伸过程中没有原子链被拉伸，而对于硫醇封端的分子结，Au 电极则发生强烈变形。因此，这种先进的方法提供了明确的证据表明，胺锚定仅与 Au 结合较弱。
