title: Influence of binding groups on molecular junction formation.
abstract: We study the formation mechanism of molecular junctions using break-junction experiments. We explore the contribution of gold-atom rearrangements in the electrodes by analyzing the junction stretching length, the length of individual plateaus, and the length of the gold one-atom contacts. Comparing the results for alkane dithiols and diamines, we conclude that thiols affect gold electrode dynamics significantly more than amines. This is a vital factor to be considered when comparing different binding groups.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Física de la Materia Condensada, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, E-28049 Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Carlos R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Arroyo
authors.forename: Edmund
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Leary
authors.forename: Andrés
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Castellanos-Gómez
authors.forename: Gabino
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Rubio-Bollinger
authors.forename: M Teresa
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: González
authors.forename: Nicolás
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Agraït