journal article·2015-01-01Open access

Probing flexible conformations in molecular junctions by inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy

Mingsen Deng, Gui Ye, Shaohong Cai, Guangyu Sun, Jun Jiang

AIP Advances· Volume 5· Issue 1

Abstract

The probe of flexible molecular conformation is crucial for the electric application of molecular systems. We have developed a theoretical procedure to analyze the couplings of molecular local vibrations with the electron transportation process, which enables us to evaluate the structural fingerprints of some vibrational modes in the inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy (IETS). Based on a model molecule of Bis-(4-mercaptophenyl)-ether with a flexible center angle, we have revealed and validated a simple mathematical relationship between IETS signals and molecular angles. Our results might open a route to quantitatively measure key geometrical parameters of molecular junctions, which helps to achieve precise control of molecular devices.
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Research context

OpenAlex topics: Molecular Junctions and Nanostructures · Quantum and electron transport phenomena · Electrochemical Analysis and Applications

SciVX discovery tags are terminology-based. OpenAlex topics are source-provided classifications.

Affiliations

Guizhou University 1 Department of Physics, , Guiyang, 550025, China

Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratory of Computational Nano-Material Science, Institute of Applied Physics, Guizhou Normal College 2 , Guiyang, 550018, China

University of Science and Technology of China 3 Department of Chemical Physics, School of Chemistry and Materials Science, , Hefei, 230026, China

Guizhou Key Laboratory of Economic System Simulation, Guizhou University of Finance and Economics 4 , Guiyang, 550004, China

Funding

Construction project for Guizhou Provincial Key Laboratories · Excellent youth scientific and technology talents of Guizhou Province · Natural Science Foundation of Guizhou Province · Program for innovative Research Team of Guizhou Province · National Natural Science Foundation of China

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