Effect of crystallographic orientations on transport properties of methylthiol-terminated permethyloligosilane molecular junction

The understanding of the influence of electrode characteristics on charge transport is essential in the field of molecular electronics. In this work, we investigate the electronic transport properties of molecular junctions comprising methylthiol-terminated permethyloligosilanes and face-centered crystal Au/Ag electrodes with crystallographic orientations of (111) and (100), based on the ab initio quantum transport simulations. The calculations reveal that the molecular junction conductance is dominated by the electronic coupling between two interfacial metal-S bonding states, which can be tuned by varying the molecular length, metal material of the electrodes, and crystallographic orientation. As the permethyloligosilane backbone elongates, although the σ conjugation increases, the decreasing of coupling induced by the increasing number of central Si atoms reduces the junction conductance. The molecular junction conductance of methylthiol-terminated permethyloligosilanes with Au electrodes is higher than that with Ag electrodes with a crystallographic orientation of (111). However, the conductance trend is reversed when the electrode crystallographic orientation varies from (111) to (100), which can be ascribed to the reversal of interfacial coupling between two metal-S interfacial states. These findings are conducive to elucidating the mechanism of molecular junctions and improving the transport properties of molecular devices by adjusting the electrode characteristics.     

Spin-resolved edge states transport in a normal/ferromagnetic/normal topological insulator junction: The role of interface

The spin-resolved edge states transport in a normal/ferromagnetic/normal topological insulator (TI) junction is investigated numerically. It is shown that the transport properties of the hybrid junction strongly depend on the interface shape. For the junction with two sharp interfaces, a nonzero spin conductance can be generated besides the spin-split energy windows. Moreover, the axial symmetries of the in-plane spin conductance amplitude are broken. The underlying physics is attributed to the sharp-interface-induced quantum interference effect. However, for the hybrid junction with two smooth interfaces, a non-zero spin conductance can only be achieved in the spin-split energy windows. Further, the axial symmetries of the in-plane spin conductance amplitude recover. These findings may not only benefit to further apprehend the spin-dependent edge states transport in the hybrid TI junctions but also provide some theoretical bases to the application of the topological spintronics devices.     

接触构型及电极距离对4,4’-二巯基二苯醚分子电输运性质的影响

利用从头计算方法和弹性散射格林函数的方法,对4,4'-二巯基二苯醚分子电输运特性的研究结果显示,分子与电极之间接触点的构型以及两电极之间的距离对4,4'-二巯基二苯醚分子的电输运性质都有很大影响.电流随电极距离的变化与耦合系数的变化存在着密切关系.分子末端硫原子处于金原子的顶位上时电流的开启电压很小,而处在金(111)面的空位上时约有1.0V左右电流禁区.与实验结果相比,硫原子更可能处在金(111)面的空位上方.     

1,4-丁二硫醇分子器件电输运性质的力敏特性研究

基于杂化密度泛函理论,研究了1,4-丁二硫醇分子体系的结构随电极作用力的变化及拉断过程;并利用弹性散射格林函数方法进一步计算了不同电极作用力下分子体系的电输运特性.结果显示,界面结构不同,拉断分子体系所用的拉力也不同:分子末端硫原子处于Au(111)面的空位上方时,拉断分子体系需约1.75 nN的拉力;若金电极表面存在孤立金原子与1,4-丁二硫醇分子末端的硫原子相连,拉断分子体系只需约1.0 nN的力,且伴有孤立金原子被拉出.两种情况分别与不同实验测量相符合.分子在压缩过程中发生扭曲并引起表面金原子滑移,然而压缩扭曲过程与拉伸回复过程不可逆.电极拉力约为0.7—0.8 nN时,分子体系在不同界面构型下以及在不同扭转状态下,电导都出现极小值,这与实验结论一致.分子的末端原子与电极间耦合强度随电极作用力的变化是引起分子体系电导变化的主要因素.实验在0.8 nN附近同时测得较小概率的高电导值与双分子导电有关.     

Effect of end groups on contact resistance of alkanethiol based metal-molecule-metal junctions using current sensing AFM

Tuning the charge transport through a metal-molecule-metal junction by changing the interface properties is widely studied and is of paramount importance for applications in molecular electronic devices. We used current sensing atomic force microscopy (CSAFM) as a tool to study the contact resistance of metal-molecule-metal (MmM) junctions formed by sandwiching self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of alkanethiols with various end groups (-CH₃, -OH and -NH₂) between Au(1 1 1) substrates and Au coated AFM tips. The effect of interface chemistry on charge transport through such SAMs with varying end groups was studied in an inert, non-polar liquid (hexadecane) environment. We find that the contact resistances of these MmM junctions vary significantly based on the end group chemistry of the molecules.     

Electronic properties of single-molecule junction: Effect of the molecular distortion

For a model system consisting of a benzenedithio (BDT) molecule sandwiched between two Au plates, the electronic properties as a function of different BDT geometry are investigated using density functional theory. The distorted BDT structures are got through stretching the electrode distance. The corresponding electronic properties, including the spatial distribution of the frontier orbits, the gap between the highest occupied molecular orbital and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital levels and density of states at the Fermi energy are determined. It reveals that the molecular distortion essentially determines electronic structures. The result should be beneficial to understand the stress-dependent or structure-dependent transport mechanism of electrons of the BDT junction.     

Au-Si_(60)-Au分子结电子输运性质的理论计算

运用密度泛函理论对Si60团簇的结构进行几何优化,得到基态结构是一个直径为1.131 nm,平均键长为0.239 nm,分子最低未占据轨道与最高占据轨道能量差即能隙值为0.72 eV,具有C1点群的空心笼状结构.然后把它与两半无限的Au(100)-4×4电极相连构成Au-Si60-Au三明治结构分子结点,运用密度泛函理论结合非平衡格林函数的方法对其电子输运性质进行了第一性原理计算.当两电极的距离为1.74 nm时,分子结点的平衡电导为1.93G0(G0=2e2/h),然后在-2.0—2.0 V的电压范围内,计算了不同电压下的电导与电流,得到其I-V曲线成近线性关系,从分子前线轨道与透射谱分析了Si60分子的电子输运特性,讨论了电荷转移量与电导之间的关系.     

Bias-induced reconstruction of hybrid interface states in magnetic molecular junctions

Based on first-principles calculations, the bias-induced evolutions of hybrid interface states in π-conjugated tricene and in insulating octane magnetic molecular junctions are investigated. Obvious bias-induced splitting and energy shift of the spin-resolved hybrid interface states are observed in the two junctions. The recombination of the shifted hybrid interface states from different interfaces makes the spin polarization around the Fermi energy strongly bias-dependent. The transport calculations demonstrate that in the π -conjugated tricene junction, the bias-dependent hybrid interface states work efficiently for large current, current spin polarization, and distinct tunneling magnetoresistance. But in the insulating octane junction, the spin-dependent transport via the hybrid interface states is inhibited, which is only slightly disturbed by the bias. This work reveals the phenomenon of bias-induced reconstruction of hybrid interface states in molecular spinterface devices, and the underlying role of conjugated molecular orbitals in the transport ability of hybrid interface states.     

Role of inter-tube coupling and quantum interference on electrical transport in carbon nanotube junctions

Due to excellent transport properties, Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) show a lot of promise in sensor and interconnect technology. However, recent studies indicate that the conductance in CNT/CNT junctions are strongly affected by the morphology and orientation between the tubes. For proper utilization of such junctions in the development of CNT based technology, it is essential to study the electronic properties of such junctions. This work presents a theoretical study of the electrical transport properties of metallic Carbon nanotube homo-junctions. The study focuses on discerning the role of inter-tube interactions, quantum interference and scattering on the transport properties on junctions between identical tubes. The electronic structure and transport calculations are conducted with an Extended Hückel Theory-Non Equilibrium Green's Function based model. The calculations indicate conductance to be varying with a changing crossing angle, with maximum conductance corresponding to lattice registry, i.e. parallel configuration between the two tubes. Further calculations for such parallel configurations indicate onset of short and long range oscillations in conductance with respect to changing overlap length. These oscillations are attributed to inter-tube coupling effects owing to changing π orbital overlap, carrier scattering and quantum interference of the incident, transmitted and reflected waves at the inter-tube junction.     

A comparative study of electron transport in benzene molecule covalently bonded to gold and silicon electrodes for pioneering the electron transport properties of silicon quantum dot-molecule hybrid polymers

In order to pioneer the electron transport properties of silicon (Si) quantum dot-molecule hybrid polymers, we investigate the electron transport properties of the benzene molecule in silicon (Si) semiconductor electrodes, based on nonequilibrium Green's function (NEGF) method coupled with density functional theory (DFT), in comparison with conventional gold (Au) metal electrodes, with three different anchoring linker groups: thiol for dithiol-benzene (DTB), methylene for dimethyl-benzene (DMB), and direct bonding for benzene (Ph). It is interestingly found that, due to band gap nature of the Si semiconductor electrodes, the molecular junctions with the Si electrodes show no current up to the bias voltage of around 0.8 V. In addition, the DTB molecular junctions in the Si semiconductor electrodes connected with Si–S bond show higher conducting properties than other DMB and Ph molecular junctions directly coupled to the electrodes with the Si–C bonds (DMB < Ph < DTB). The electron transport properties of the molecules in the two different electrodes are analyzed on the basis of the understanding transmission spectra, projected density of states (PDOS), and molecular orbitals. We believe that the use of thiol linker may open new possibility in the molecular electronics with the Si semiconductor electrodes and the Si QD-molecule hybrid polymers concept.     

Spin-polarized quasiparticle transport in ferromagnet/d-wave superconductor junctions

Within a scattering framework, a theoretical study is presented for the spin-polarized quasiparticle transport in ferromagnet/d-wave superconductor junctions. We find that the subgap conductance behavior is qualitatively different from a nonmagnetic junction, and can also be significantly different from those of a ferromagnet/s-wave junction. For a ballistic ferromagnet/d-wave superconductor junction, under appropriate conditions, a zero-bias conductance minimum could be achieved. In addition, a conductance maximum at finite bias could be evolved by interfacial scattering. For a normal-metal/ferromagnet/d-wave superconductor junction, conductance resonances are predicted.     

Special electronic structures and quantum conduction of B/P co-doping carbon nanotubes under electric field using the first principle

Boron (B)/phosphorus (P)-doped single-wall carbon nanotubes (B-PSWNTs) are studied by using the first-principle method based on density function theory. Mayer bond order, band structure, electrons density and density of states are calculated. It concludes that the B-PSWNTs have special band structure, which is quite different from BN nanotubes, and that metallic carbon nanotubes will be converted to semiconductor due to boron/phosphorus co-doping, which breaks the symmetrical structure. The bonding forms in B-PSWNTs are investigated in detail. Besides, Mulliken charge population and the quantum conductance are also calculated to study the quantum transport characteristics of B-PSWNT hetero-junction. It is found that the position of p–n junction in this hetero-junction will be changed as the applied electric field increase and it performs the characteristics of diode.     

苯基分子器件 量子相干输运第一性原理研究

摘要：分子器件在纳米尺度下,电子的相干性将对体系的电导产生重大影响。本文基于第一性原理计算研究了苯分子连接于一维金属电极下的电荷输运性质。发现一维金电极连接下,不同的连接方式（para与meta）体系下的电导将会有显著差别,而一维铂电极连接下,体系的电导差别不大。我们通过计算电极的能带,发现金电极与铂电极在费米面处的散射态数目有差别。 当量子相干效应导致散射态局域化发生改变时,由于铂电极的通道数较多,电子依然可以通过扩展的通道输运,因此不同连接方式下的电导变化不明显。     

Electron transport properties of single molecular junctions under mechanical modulations

Electron transport behaviors of single molecular junctions are very sensitive to the atomic scale molecule-metal electrode contact interfaces, which have been difficult to control. We used a modified scanning probe microscope-break junction technique (SPM-BJT) to control the dynamics of the contacts and simultaneously monitor both the conductance and force. First, by fitting the measured data into a modified multiple tunneling barrier model, the static contact resistances, corresponding to the different contact conformations of single alkanedithiol and alkanediamine molecular junctions, were identified. Second, the changes of contact decay constant were measured under mechanical extensions of the molecular junctions, which helped to classify the different single molecular conductance sets into specific microscopic conformations of the molecule-electrode contacts. Third, by monitoring the changes of force and contact decay constant with the mechanical extensions, the changes of conductance were found to be caused by the changes of contact bond length and by the atomic reorganizations near the contact bond. This study provides a new insight into the understanding of the influences of contact conformations, especially the effect of changes of dynamic contact conformation on electron transport through single molecular junctions.     

Pt25Rh/TaC界面特性的第一性原理研究

铂铑(PtRh)合金具有优良的高温力学性能,是目前最具潜力的航天发动机推力器喷管材料之一.研究表明,进一步提升PtRh合金的高温性能,能有效延长航天飞行器的服役寿命.本研究利用第一性原理、Materials Studio软件,研究了Ta C热障涂层与Pt25Rh高温合金的界面特性和结合机制.结果表明,Ta C的热膨胀系数与Pt25Rh较为接近,比同类热障涂层具有更优的界面匹配性和结合力,既可作为单独的防护层使用,也可作为粘结层使用.此外,由于Ta-C,Pt-C和Rh-C键的电荷转移能力均强于Ta-Pt和Ta-Rh键,Ta C与Pt25Rh合金的最稳定结合位置为孔位的Pt25Rh (111)/Ta C (111)_C,其界面粘附功为6.202 J/m².本研究可为PtRh合金的热防护提供借鉴.     

溶液酸碱性对低聚苯亚乙炔基分子结电输运性质的影响

结合密度泛函理论和非平衡格林函数方法计算了溶液酸碱性对低聚苯亚乙炔基分子结电输运性质的影响,此低聚苯亚乙炔基分子中两个不同位置的H原子被氨基和羧基取代.通过质子化和去质子化模拟酸性溶液和碱性溶液对分子结构的影响.计算结果表明:中性环境下分子器件具有良好的导电性和微弱的整流效应;碱性溶液中羧基去质子化后,分子器件电流值增长近一倍,但整流效应变化不明显;酸性溶液中氨基质子化后,分子器件正向偏压导电性能略微降低,但整流方向发生明显反转,且与中性环境下的情况相比,整流比提高了近三倍.提出了一种利用化学手段控制分子结导电能力和整流性能的方法.     

以石墨烯为电极的有机噻吩分子整流器的设计及电输运特性研究

传统硅基半导体器件受到了量子尺寸效应的限制,发展分子电子学器件有可能解决这一难题.本文提出了由石墨烯电极和有机噻吩分子相结合构造分子器件的思想,建构了"石墨烯-噻吩分子-石墨烯"结构的分子器件,并运用非平衡态格林函数结合密度泛函理论的方法研究了其电输运特性.系统地分析了电子给体"氨基"和电子受体"硝基"两种取代基的位置对有机噻吩分子电输运的影响.计算表明,有机噻吩二聚物被"氨基"和"硝基"取代后会产生明显的负微分电阻效应和整流效应.进一步对产生这些效应的物理机制进行分析,发现氨基的位置可以调整负微分电阻的强弱,硝基的位置可以改变整流的方向.     

Molecular conductance spectroscopy of conjugated,phenyl-based molecules on Au(111): the effect of end groups on molecular conduction

Four families of conjugated molecules, containing between one and three phenyl rings and having both thiol (–SH) and isocyanide (–NC) end groups, have been synthesized and assembled as monolayers on flat Au(111) substrates. The conductance spectra G(V) for these molecular wires were systematically measured in UHV conditions using scanning tunneling microscope techniques. The measured conductance spectra for the molecules having thiol end groups are compared to a recent theory for molecular conduction. The favorable comparison indicates that the important properties influencing the conductance of short, conjugated molecular wires having thiol end groups and forming self-assembled monolayers on a Au(111) surface have been successfully identified. The isocyanide molecules reveal a shift in Fermi level of the molecule as a function of phenyl ring number that is opposite to that observed for the thiol-terminated molecules. The trends in molecular conductance determined from this systematic study are summarized and discussed and provide insight into the role played by bonding end groups in electronic conduction.     

Resonance Transport of Graphene Nanoribbon T-Shaped Junctions

We investigate the transport properties of T-shaped junctions composed of armchair graphene nanoribbons of different widths. Three types of junction geometries are considered. The junction conductance strongly depends on the atomic features of the junction geometry. When the shoulders of the junction have zigzag type edges, sharp conductance resonances usually appear in the low energy region around the Dirac point, and a conductance gap emerges. When the shoulders of the junction have armchair type edges, the conductance resonance behavior is weakened significantly, and the metal-metal-metal junction structures show semimetallic behaviors. The contact resistance also changes notably due to the various interface geometries of the junction.