Single Molecule Electronic Devices

• Published in: Advanced materials (Weinheim) Vol. 23; no. 14; pp. 1583 - 1608
• Main Authors: Song, Hyunwook, Reed, Mark A., Lee, Takhee
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim WILEY-VCH Verlag 12.04.2011; WILEY‐VCH Verlag
• Subjects: charge transport; Electrochemical Techniques; Electrodes; Electronics - instrumentation; Gold - chemistry; inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy; molecular electronics; Quantum Dots; Quantum Theory; single molecule electronic devices; transition voltage spectroscopy
• ISSN: 0935-9648; 1521-4095; 1521-4095
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.201004291

Single molecule electronic devices in which individual molecules are utilized as active electronic components constitute a promising approach for the ultimate miniaturization and integration of electronic devices in nanotechnology through the bottom‐up strategy. Thus, the ability to understand, control, and exploit charge transport at the level of single molecules has become a long‐standing desire of scientists and engineers from different disciplines for various potential device applications. Indeed, a study on charge transport through single molecules attached to metallic electrodes is a very challenging task, but rapid advances have been made in recent years. This review article focuses on experimental aspects of electronic devices made with single molecules, with a primary focus on the characterization and manipulation of charge transport in this regime. Single molecules provide ideal systems to investigate charge transport on the molecular scale, which is a subject of intense current interest for both practical applications and achieving a fundamental understanding of novel physical phenomena that take place in molecular‐scale charge transport. This review article focuses on experimental aspects of electronic devices made with single molecules.