title: Electron tunneling through alkanedithiol self-assembled monolayers in large-area molecular junctions.
abstract: The electrical transport through self-assembled monolayers of alkanedithiols was studied in large-area molecular junctions and described by the Simmons model [Simmons JG (1963) J Appl Phys 34:1793-1803 and 2581-2590] for tunneling through a practical barrier, i.e., a rectangular barrier with the image potential included. The strength of the image potential depends on the value of the dielectric constant. A value of 2.1 was determined from impedance measurements. The large and well defined areas of these molecular junctions allow for a simultaneous study of the capacitance and the tunneling current under operational conditions. Electrical transport for octanedithiol through tetradecanedithiol self-assembled monolayers up to 1 V can simultaneously be described by a single effective mass and a barrier height. There is no need for additional fit constants. The barrier heights are in the order of 4-5 eV and vary systematically with the length of the molecules. Irrespective of the length of the molecules, an effective mass of 0.28 was determined, which is in excellent agreement with theoretical predictions.
authors.affiliation: Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, NL-9747 AG, Groningen, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Hylke B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Akkerman
authors.forename: Ronald C G
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Naber
authors.forename: Bert
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Jongbloed
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: van Hal
authors.forename: Paul W M
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Blom
authors.forename: Dago M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: de Leeuw
authors.forename: Bert
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: de Boer
mesh_terms: D000473:Alkanes / Q000737:chemistry*; D004581:Electronics; D004583:Electrons; D008956:Models, Chemical; D014050:Toluene / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D000473:Alkanes; D014050:Toluene; C004848:dithiol