Quantum interference effects at room temperature in OPV-based single-molecule junctions

Carlos R. Arroyo; Riccardo Frisenda; Kasper Moth-Poulsen; Johannes S. Seldenthuis; Thomas Bjørnholm; Herre S. J. van der Zant

doi:10.1186/1556-276X-8-234

Quantum interference effects at room temperature in OPV-based single-molecule junctions

Carlos R. Arroyo, Riccardo Frisenda, Kasper Moth-Poulsen, Johannes S. Seldenthuis, Thomas Bjørnholm, Herre S. J. van der Zant

Department of Chemistry

36 Citations (Scopus)

823 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Interference effects on charge transport through an individual molecule can lead to a notable modulation and suppression on its conductance. In this letter, we report the observation of quantum interference effects occurring at room temperature in single-molecule junctions based on oligo(3)-phenylenevinylene (OPV3) derivatives, in which the central benzene ring is coupled to either para- or meta-positions. Using the break-junction technique, we find that the conductance for a single meta-OPV3 molecule wired between gold electrodes is one order of magnitude smaller than that of a para-OPV3 molecule. Theoretical calculations confirm the occurrence of constructive and destructive interference in the para- and meta-OPV3 molecules respectively, which arises from the phase difference of the transmission coefficients through the molecular orbitals.

Original language	English
Article number	234
Journal	Nanoscale Research Letters
Volume	8
Number of pages	6
ISSN	1931-7573
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1186/1556-276X-8-234
Publication status	Published - 1 Dec 2013

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title = "Quantum interference effects at room temperature in OPV-based single-molecule junctions",

abstract = "Interference effects on charge transport through an individual molecule can lead to a notable modulation and suppression on its conductance. In this letter, we report the observation of quantum interference effects occurring at room temperature in single-molecule junctions based on oligo(3)-phenylenevinylene (OPV3) derivatives, in which the central benzene ring is coupled to either para- or meta-positions. Using the break-junction technique, we find that the conductance for a single meta-OPV3 molecule wired between gold electrodes is one order of magnitude smaller than that of a para-OPV3 molecule. Theoretical calculations confirm the occurrence of constructive and destructive interference in the para- and meta-OPV3 molecules respectively, which arises from the phase difference of the transmission coefficients through the molecular orbitals.",

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T1 - Quantum interference effects at room temperature in OPV-based single-molecule junctions

AU - Arroyo, Carlos R.

AU - Frisenda, Riccardo

AU - Moth-Poulsen, Kasper

AU - Seldenthuis, Johannes S.

AU - Bjørnholm, Thomas

AU - van der Zant, Herre S. J.

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N2 - Interference effects on charge transport through an individual molecule can lead to a notable modulation and suppression on its conductance. In this letter, we report the observation of quantum interference effects occurring at room temperature in single-molecule junctions based on oligo(3)-phenylenevinylene (OPV3) derivatives, in which the central benzene ring is coupled to either para- or meta-positions. Using the break-junction technique, we find that the conductance for a single meta-OPV3 molecule wired between gold electrodes is one order of magnitude smaller than that of a para-OPV3 molecule. Theoretical calculations confirm the occurrence of constructive and destructive interference in the para- and meta-OPV3 molecules respectively, which arises from the phase difference of the transmission coefficients through the molecular orbitals.

AB - Interference effects on charge transport through an individual molecule can lead to a notable modulation and suppression on its conductance. In this letter, we report the observation of quantum interference effects occurring at room temperature in single-molecule junctions based on oligo(3)-phenylenevinylene (OPV3) derivatives, in which the central benzene ring is coupled to either para- or meta-positions. Using the break-junction technique, we find that the conductance for a single meta-OPV3 molecule wired between gold electrodes is one order of magnitude smaller than that of a para-OPV3 molecule. Theoretical calculations confirm the occurrence of constructive and destructive interference in the para- and meta-OPV3 molecules respectively, which arises from the phase difference of the transmission coefficients through the molecular orbitals.

KW - Single-molecule transport

KW - Quantum interference

KW - Break junctions

KW - Non-equilibrium Green's functions

U2 - 10.1186/1556-276X-8-234

DO - 10.1186/1556-276X-8-234

M3 - Journal article

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