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Conductance of a single molecule anchored by an isocyanide substituent to gold electrodes

Manabu Kiguchi·Shinichi Miura·Kenji Hara·Masaya Sawamura·Kei Murakoshi
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Abstract

The effect of anchoring group on the electrical conductance of a single molecule bridging two Au electrodes was studied using di-substituted (isocyanide (CN-), thiol (S-) or cyanide (NC-)) benzene. The conductance of a single Au/1,4-diisocyanobenzene/Au junction anchored by isocyanide via a C atom (junction with the Au-CN bond) was $3 \times 10 ^{-3} G_{0}$ ($2e^{2}/h$). The value was comparable to $4 \times 10 ^{-3} G_{0}$ of a single Au/1,4-benzenedithiol/Au junction with the Au-S bond. The Au/1,4-dicyanobenzene/Au molecular junction with the Au-NC bond did not show well-defined conductance values. The metal-molecule bond strength was estimated by the distance over which the molecular junction was stretched before breakdown. The stretched length of the molecular junction with the Au-CN bond was comparable to that of the Au junction, indicating that the Au-CN bond was stronger than the Au-Au bond.

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Manabu Kiguchi, Shinichi Miura, Kenji Hara, Masaya Sawamura, Kei Murakoshi. 2006-10-14. Conductance of a single molecule anchored by an isocyanide substituent to gold electrodes. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2392816

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