Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern Freiestrasse 3, CH-3012 Bern, Switzerland.
Chem Soc Rev. 2015 Feb 21;44(4):889-901. doi: 10.1039/c4cs00242c.
Molecular electronics aims to construct functional molecular devices at the single-molecule scale. One of the major challenges is to construct a single-molecule junction and to further manipulate the charge transport through the molecular junction. Break junction techniques, including STM break junctions and mechanically controllable break junctions are considered as testbed to investigate and control the charge transport on a single-molecule scale. Moreover, additional electrochemical gating provides a unique opportunity to manipulate the energy alignment and molecular redox processes for a single-molecule junction. In this review, we start from the technical aspects of the break junction technique, then discuss the molecular structure-conductance correlation derived from break junction studies, and, finally, emphasize electrochemical gating as a promising method for the functional molecular devices.
分子电子学旨在构建单分子尺度上的功能分子器件。其中一个主要挑战是构建单分子结，并进一步通过分子结控制电荷输运。断裂结技术，包括扫描隧道显微镜（STM）断裂结和机械可控断裂结，被认为是研究和控制单分子尺度上电荷输运的实验平台。此外，电化学门控提供了一个独特的机会，可以操纵单分子结的能量排列和分子氧化还原过程。在这篇综述中，我们从断裂结技术的技术方面开始，然后讨论从断裂结研究中得出的分子结构-电导相关性，最后强调电化学门控作为功能分子器件的一种有前途的方法。
