电极接触构型对辛烷硫醇分子非弹性电子隧穿谱的影响

本文选取辛烷硫醇分子通过终端S原子化学吸附于一端的Au原子团簇,另一端由碳原子物理吸附于Au原子团簇形成分子结,利用从头计算方法和非弹性散射格林函数理论研究了在三种不同电极接触构型下的该分子的非弹性电子隧穿谱的影响.计算结果表明,电极接触构型对分子体系的非弹性电子隧穿谱有着明显的影响.该工作有利于确定实验中分子电子学器件的电极接触构型.     

外场对分子纳米结电流-电压特性的影响

针对由金属电极/分子/金属电极组成的分子纳米结,应用扩展主方程的方法,考虑分子纳米结中影响其传输过程的外场、分子内的弛豫过程等因素研究了在外场作用下分子纳米结内的稳定电流和瞬间电流.由于分子内较强的电子-振动耦合,分子纳米结中的电流-电压曲线呈现台阶式非弹性特征.在不同的高斯型脉冲的激发作用下,分子纳米结中电流需要达到稳定的时间也不相同,脉冲宽度在1ps时瞬间电流现象明显,这时分子处于非平衡分布,分子两端的电流存在较大差异.随着脉冲宽度和外场偏压的增加,分子两端的电流趋于平衡.     

磁性隧道结电子输运特性的研究

在Slonczewsik自由电子理论模型下,研究了两铁磁性金属电极被一平面磁性势垒隔开的磁性隧道结零偏压下的隧穿电导、自旋极化率和隧穿磁阻比率,研究表明隧道结的磁结构对隧穿电导和隧穿磁阻的值有很大的影响,当两磁性电极分子场方向相同,且都与势垒层分子场反平行时,隧穿电导数值达到最大,两者平行时,其数值最小,同时还分析了分子场的相对取向等对磁性隧道结自旋极化电子输运性质的影响.研究结果对自旋电子器件的设计具有一定的指导意义.     

磁性隧道结自旋极化电子的隧穿特性

铁磁金属间通过中间层的自旋极化电子隧穿产生的磁性耦合,在自旋电子器件中有许多潜在的应用.考虑由一平面磁性势垒层隔开的两铁磁性金属电极构成的磁性隧道结,针对中间层形成的矩形势垒,在近自由电子模型的基础上,计算零偏压下的隧穿电导、自旋极化率和隧穿磁阻比率,分析势垒层特性、分子场强弱、分子场相对取向等对隧道结自旋极化电子隧穿特性的影响.计算结果对自旋电子器件的设计具有一定的指导意义.     

磁性隧道结电子输运特性的研究

在Slonczewsik自由电子理论模型下,研究了两铁磁性金属电极被一平面磁性势垒隔开的磁性隧道结零偏压下的隧穿电导、自旋极化率和隧穿磁阻比率,研究表明隧道结的磁结构对隧穿电导和隧穿磁阻的值有很大的影响,当两磁性电极分子场方向相同,且都与势垒层分子场反平行时,隧穿电导数值达到最大,两者平行时,其数值最小,同时还分析了分子场的相对取向等对磁性隧道结自旋极化电子输运性质的影响。研究结果对自旋电子器件的设计具有一定的指导意义。     

异构二芳基乙烯分子结低偏压电导机制的第一性原理研究

本文用结合密度泛函理论的非平衡格林函数方法研究了具有开环和闭环两种同分异构体的二芳基乙烯衍生物分子的结构-特性关系. 该功能分子通过末端的吡啶基团连接到取向沿(111)方向的金电极. 计算结果表明，异构体分子结的不同低偏压电导主要是由于它们具有不同的电子结构. 两种构型分子结的低偏压导电都主要来自于电子隧穿最低未占据分子轨道(LUMO). 由于具有扩展的单双键交替共轭结构，闭环构型分子具有更好的导电通道. 通过计算分子结在平衡状态下的电子转移，可发现更多电子转移到闭环构型分子，导致了其LUMO能量更靠近费米能级，从而有利于低偏压下的导电性能. 结果有助于理解二芳基乙烯分子及其衍生物分子的低偏压电导机制，也为设计更高性能的同类分子开关提供理论依据.     

分子电子器件简化模型的电子透射谱的计算

基于分子线耦合到电极的构成特点,采用简化的非对称多势垒连续隧穿模型模拟复合分子器件偏压下的电子隧穿过程,推导电子透射谱的解析表达式,同时计算垒宽、垒距、垒高、电子有效质量和所加偏压等参数与透射系数的关系,结果发现：当电子的能量为某些值时,出现明显的共振隧穿,且透射系数对这些参数的变化非常敏感,这表明可以通过适当的控制方式（如改变复合分子组成、构型等）来修改分子电子器件的输运性质. 关键词： 分子器件 非对称势垒模型 电子透射谱 共振隧穿     

扫描隧道显微术中的微分谱学及其应用

文章介绍了扫描隧道显微术中微分谱学的原理及其在实验中的诸多应用。微分谱（dI／dV谱）和dI／dV成像可用来研究电子局域态密度在能量和空间的分布，即微分谱固定空间一点，反映电子态密度以能量为变量的分布；而dI／dV图像则反映某给定能量的电子局域态密度以空间为变量的分布，二次微分谱（d^2I／dV^2谱）和二次微分成像可以用来反映分子的非弹性隧穿过程，从而研究分子的振动态。     

Au(111)表面吸附单个八乙基钴卟啉分子的电子态和输运性质调控

通过低温超高真空扫描隧道显微镜及其谱学方法研究并展示了分子配体在调控表面吸附的单个八乙基钴卟啉(CoOEP)分子的电子态和输运性质中的重要作用. 通过单分子剪裁可以脱去该分子外围的甲基, 并在中心钴原子的微分电导谱中观察测到d轨道共振到近藤共振的演变. 实验结果结合第一性原理的理论计算研究表明, 在脱去甲基前后中心钴原子的化学环境和磁矩均未发生显著变化, 这一演变可以通过一个简化模型来阐释并被归结为脱去甲基后分子配体与衬底成键改变了体系隧穿参数所导致. 此外, 实验结果表明CoOEP分子配体的输运性质可受到分子间距离和范德华相互作用的显著调控. 在CoOEP低聚体中位于分子之间的乙基被抬高, 同时在其微分电导谱谱中0–0.8 V区域内新出现一个强的共振峰. 这一新的共振峰表现出等间距的多峰细节, 其峰间距与卟啉环和乙基之间的C–C键伸缩模式能量符合. 这一新共振峰的出现被归结为由于分子局部与衬底耦合减弱形成双结隧穿体系所导致的振子态隧穿峰.     

分子间相互作用对硫醇分子膜电输运性质的影响

利用密度泛函理论和弹性散射格林函数方法,对硫醇分子膜的电学特性进行模拟.计算结果表明,由于分子间的相互作用,导致分子膜的导电能力比单分子提高2~3个数量级.分子结的导电能力随着压力增加而增加,电极距离的变化使分子与电极以及分子间的耦合增强、分子结的链内隧穿和链间隧穿几率增大,导致电流增加.     

Electrofluorescence polarity in a molecular diode

The kinetic equations describing the transmission of an electron in the molecular compound “electrode 1–molecule–electrode 2” (1M2 system) are derived using the method of a nonequilibrium density matrix. The steady-state transmission regime is considered, for which detailed analysis of the kinetics of electrofluorescence formation in systems with symmetric and asymmetric couplings between the molecule and the electrodes is carried out. It is shown that the optically active state of the molecule is formed as a result of electron hops between the molecule and each of the electrodes, as well as due to inelastic interelectrode tunneling of the electron. The electrofluorescence power for a molecular diode (asymmetric 1M2 system) depends on the polarity of the voltage bias applied to the electrodes. The polarity is explained using a model in which the optically active part of the molecule (chromophore group) is represented by the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO). Two mechanisms of the emergence of polarity are revealed. One mechanism is associated with nonidentical Stark shifts of the HOMO and LUMO levels relative to the Fermi levels of the electrodes. The second mechanism is associated with the fact that the rates of an electron hopping between HOMO (LUMO) and one of the electrodes are much higher than the rates of such a hopping with the other electrode. The conditions in which each mechanism can be implemented experimentally are indicated.     

The inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy of edge-modified graphene nanoribbon-based molecular devices

The inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy(IETS) of four edge-modified finite-size grapheme nanoribbon(GNR)-based molecular devices has been studied by using the density functional theory and Green's function method. The effects of atomic structures and connection types on inelastic transport properties of the junctions have been studied. The IETS is sensitive to the electrode connection types and modification types. Comparing with the pure hydrogen edge passivation systems, we conclude that the IETS for the lower energy region increases obviously when using donor–acceptor functional groups as the edge modification types of the central scattering area. When using donor–acceptor as the electrode connection groups, the intensity of IETS increases several orders of magnitude than that of the pure ones. The effects of temperature on the inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy also have been discussed. The IETS curves show significant fine structures at lower temperatures. With the increasing of temperature, peak broadening covers many fine structures of the IETS curves.The changes of IETS in the low-frequency region are caused by the introduction of the donor–acceptor groups and the population distribution of thermal particles. The effect of Fermi distribution on the tunneling current is persistent.     

Theoretical investigations on the orientational dependence of electron transport through porphyrin molecular wire

The effect of molecular orientation on the electron transport behavior of single porphyrin sandwiched between two gold (111) electrodes is investigated by density functional theory calculations combined with non-equilibrium Green’s function method. The results show that the porphyrin with parallel connection to gold (111) electrodes is more conductive than the porphyrin with diagonal connection to gold (111) electrodes. The mechanism of the difference of electron transport for these two molecular junctions is analyzed from the transmission spectra and the molecular projected self-consistent Hamiltonian states. It is found that the intrinsic nature of the molecule, such as the π-conjugated framework and the strength of molecule–electrode coupling, are the essential reason for generating this difference of electron transport for the two molecular systems.     

Nonmonotonic inelastic tunneling spectra due to surface spin excitations in ferromagnetic junctions

The paper addresses inelastic spin-flip tunneling accompanied by surface spin excitations (magnons) in ferromagnetic junctions. The inelastic tunneling current is proportional to the magnon density of states which is energy-independent for the surface waves and, for this reason, cannot account for the bias-voltage dependence of the observed inelastic tunneling spectra. This paper shows that the bias-voltage dependence of the tunneling spectra can arise from the tunneling matrix elements of the electron-magnon interaction. These matrix elements are derived from the Coulomb exchange interaction using the itinerant-electron model of magnon-assisted tunneling. The results for the inelastic tunneling spectra, based on the nonequilibrium Green’s function calculations, are presented for both parallel and antiparallel magnetizations in the ferromagnetic leads.     

Elastic and inelastic electron transport in metal–molecule(s)–metal junctions

An overview of studies on elastic and inelastic electron transport properties of molecular junction devices is presented. The development of the experimental fabrication and characterization of molecular junctions as well as the corresponding theoretical modeling is briefly summarized. The functions of molecular devices are generally governed by the intrinsic structure–property relationships, and strongly affected by various environment factors including temperature, solvent and intermolecular interactions. Those detailed structural and environmental information could be probed by a powerful tool of inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy, for which the theoretical modeling becomes particularly important. With many successful examples, it is demonstrated that the combination of theoretical simulations and experimental measurements can help not only to understand the electron–phonon interaction, but more importantly also to accurately determine the real configurations of molecules inside the junctions.     

Influence of zero-point anomalies in the electron density of states of electrodes on the inelastic tunneling spectrum

It is shown that a minimum in the electron density of states near the Fermi surface of one of the electrodes shifts the peaks in inelastic tunneling spectrum toward higher voltages. The shift depends on the correlation parameter and increases with temperature. It is argued that the observation of the shift in the local singularities of inelastic tunneling, in conjunction with the presence of large-scale zero-point anomaly in the differential conductivity, can serve as a firm evidence of the presence of the corresponding singularity in the electron density of metal oxides and magnetoresistive materials.     

Interface states and impurities in MOS structures with very thin tunneling barriers

Electron tunneling spectroscopy was used to investigate MOS junctions with very thin silicon oxide or silicon oxynitride layers (2–5 nm) as tunneling barriers. For the tunneling measurements at 4.2 K highly degenerate P-doped (3×10²⁰ cm^-3) Si substrates, oxidized in dry oxygen at 600°C were used. Silicon oxynitride layers were prepared by plasma nitridation in an NH₃ discharge. As gate electrodes evaporated films of Al, Au or Pb were utilized. Changes in the tunneling conductivity were attributed to changes in the density of interface states, caused by hydrogen annealing or by high field stress. The results indicate a correlation between the generation of interface states and the removal of Si-H configurations. Vibrational modes of phonons, dopants and impurities were detected by inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy.     

Origin of discrepancies in inelastic electron tunneling spectra of molecular junctions

We report inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy (IETS) of multilayer molecular junctions with and without incorporated metal nanoparticles. The incorporation of metal nanoparticles into our devices leads to enhanced IET intensity and a modified line shape for some vibrational modes. The enhancement and line-shape modification are both the result of a low lying hybrid metal nanoparticle-molecule electronic level. These observations explain the apparent discrepancy between earlier IETS measurements of alkane thiolate junctions by Kushmerick et al. [Nano Lett. 4, 639 (2004)] and Wang et al. [Nano Lett. 4, 643 (2004)].     

Electronic properties of organic monolayers and molecular devices

We review some of our recent experimental results on charge transport in organic nanostructures such as self-assembled monolayer and monolayers of organic semiconductors. We describe a molecular rectifying junction made from a sequential self-assembly on silicon. These devices exhibit a marked current-voltage rectification behavior due to resonant transport between the Si conduction band and the π molecule highest occupied molecular orbital of the π molecule. We discuss the role of metal Fermi level pinning in the current-voltage behavior of these molecular junctions. We also discuss some recent insights on the inelastic electron tunneling behavior of Si/alkyl chain/metal junctions.     

Band structure and density of States effects in co-based magnetic tunnel junctions

Utilizing Co/Al(2)O(3)/Co magnetic tunnel junctions with Co electrodes of different crystalline phases, a clear relationship between electrode crystal structure and junction transport properties is presented. For junctions with one fcc(111) textured and one polycrystalline (polyphase and polydirectional) Co electrode, a strong asymmetry is observed in the magnetotransport properties, while when both electrodes are polycrystalline the magnetotransport is essentially symmetric. These observations are successfully explained within a model based on ballistic tunneling between the calculated band structures (density of states) of fcc-Co and hcp-Co.