ナノギャップ電極を用いた分子ワイヤの測定

抄録

  The authors introduce recent progress in the measurements of molecular wires in relation to the research on molecular devices. The miniaturization limit of fabrications has been approaching to molecular sizes, and it is sufficient to produce nano-gap electrodes for measuring single-molecular conductance. However, connecting molecular wires to the electrodes requires a molecular design enabling stable chemical bonds between the molecule and two facing electrodes. In this manuscript, the authors demonstrate a simple procedure for fabricating molecular-sized nanogap electrodes and a statistical analysis about the success rate of forming connection between the nano-gap for three molecular wires with slightly modified structures. It was found that the steadiness of the bridge-structure depended strongly on the molecular structures. In addition, the authors combined the nano-gap electrodes with sensor molecules and successfully detected target molecules by the change of molecular conductance caused by the reaction to the target.