Promotion and suppression of single-molecule conductance by quantum interference in macrocyclic circuits

Chen, Hongliang and Hou, Songjun and Wu, Qingqing and Jiang, Feng and Zhou, Ping and Zhang, Long and Jiao, Yang and Song, Bo and Guo, Qing-Hui and Chen, Xiao-Yang and Hong, Wenjing and Lambert, Colin and Stoddart, J. Fraser (2021) Promotion and suppression of single-molecule conductance by quantum interference in macrocyclic circuits. Matter, 4 (11). pp. 3662-3676.

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Abstract

Single-molecule electronics is a sub-field of nanoelectronics in which individual devices are formed from single molecules placed between source and drain electrodes. During the past few years, scientists have demonstrated that the flow of electricity through these devices is controlled by quantum interference (QI) between electrons passing from source to drain. Their future development, however, is hampered by difficulties in controlling interference effects. Herein, we demonstrate that electron transport in tetracationic cyclophane circuits is mediated by QI between channels formed from two lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (LUMOs), while their highest occupied molecular orbitals (HOMOs) play no significant role. Energy differences between these two LUMO channels induce constructive interference, leading to high conductance. By contrast, phase differences between these LUMO channels result in destructive interference and a suppression in overall conductance. Such a design of single-molecule circuits enables the construction of single-molecule conductors and insulators based on a single cyclophane platform.

Item Type:

Journal Article

Journal or Publication Title:

Matter

Additional Information:

This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Matter. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Matter, 4, 11, 2021 DOI: 10.1016/j.matt.2021.08.016

Subjects:

?? cyclophanesintramolecular circuitslumo-dominated transportmolecular electronicsquantum interferencesingle-supermolecule electronicsstm-bjs ??

Departments:

Faculty of Science and Technology > Physics

ID Code:

160011

Deposited By:

ep_importer_pure

Deposited On:

04 Oct 2021 11:25

Refereed?:

Yes