Molecular conductance switch-on of single ruthenium complex molecules

Thiol-tethered Ru(II) terpyridine complexes were synthesized for a voltage-driven molecular switch and used to understand the switch-on mechanism of the molecular switches of single metal complexes in the solid-state molecular junction in a vacuum. Molecularly resolved scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) images revealed well-defined single Ru(II) complexes isolated in the highly ordered dielectric monolayer. When a negative sample-bias was applied, the threshold voltage to the high conductance state in the molecular junctions of the Ru(II) complex was consistent with the electronic energy gap between the Fermi level of the gold substrate and the lowest ligand-centered redox state of the metal complex molecule. As an active redox center leading to conductance switching in the molecule, the lowest ligand-centered redox state of Ru(II) complexes was suggested to trap an electron injected from the gold substrate. Our suggestions for a single-molecule switch-on mechanism in the solid state can provide guidance in a design that improves the charge-trapping efficiency of the ligands with different metal substrates.