Single-Molecule Fullerenes: Current Stage and Perspective

Single-molecule techniques can reveal new fundamental physical and chemical effects of matters at the single-molecule scale, and build functional devices based on molecular properties to achieve specific optoelectronic functions. So far, various molecules have been introduced into single-molecule junctions to investigate their unique properties at the single-molecule scale. Among them, fullerene molecules, as a unique class of functional materials, provide infinite opportunities for fabricating various single-molecule devices. The combination of fullerenes and single-molecule electronic techniques not only realizes the discovery of new principles and new properties at the single-molecule scale, but also leads to the functionalization of single-molecule devices. This perspective discusses the properties of single fullerene molecules, such as charge transport, spin, nanomechanics, thermoelectricity, etc., introduces prototype functional devices based on the properties of single fullerene molecules, and provides directions for further research in this field.