Electronic Excitations of a Single Molecule Contacted in a Three-Terminal Configuration

• Published in: Nano letters Vol. 7; no. 11; pp. 3336 - 3342
• Main Authors: Osorio, Edgar A, O'Neill, Kevin, Wegewijs, Maarten, Stuhr-Hansen, Nicolai, Paaske, Jens, Bjørnholm, Thomas, van der Zant, Herre S. J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 01.11.2007
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties; Electronic structure and electrical properties of surfaces, interfaces, thin films and low-dimensional structures; Electronic structure of nanoscale materials : clusters, nanoparticles, nanotubes, and nanocrystals; Electronics; Exact sciences and technology; Magnetoelectric, magnetostrictive, magnetoacoustic, magnetooptic and magnetothermal devices. Spintronics; Physics; Semiconductor electronics. Microelectronics. Optoelectronics. Solid state devices; Electronic structure; Thiol; Elementary excitation; Kondo effect; Gates; Spintronics
• ISSN: 1530-6984; 1530-6992
• DOI: 10.1021/nl0715802

Low-temperature three-terminal transport measurements through a thiol end-capped π-conjugated molecule have been carried out. Electronic excitations, including zero and finite-bias Kondo-effects, have been observed and studied as a function of magnetic field. Using a simplified two-orbital model, we have accounted for the spin and the electronic configuration of the first four charge states of the molecule. The charge-dependent couplings to gate, source, and drain electrodes suggest a scenario in which charges and spins are localized at the ends of the molecule, close to the electrodes.