title: Inelastic transport and low-bias rectification in a single-molecule diode.
abstract: Designing, controlling, and understanding rectification behavior in molecular-scale devices has been a goal of the molecular electronics community for many years. Here we study the transport behavior of a single molecule diode, and its nonrectifying, symmetric counterpart at low temperatures, and at both low and high biases to help elucidate the electron-phonon interactions and transport mechanisms in the rectifying system. We find that the onset of current rectification occurs at low biases, indicating a significant change in the elastic transport pathway. However, the peaks in the inelastic electron tunneling (IET) spectrum are antisymmetric about zero bias and show no significant changes in energy or intensity in the forward or reverse bias directions, indicating that despite the change in the elastic transmission probability there is little impact on the inelastic pathway. These results agree with first principles calculations performed to evaluate the IETS, which also allow us to identify which modes are active in the single molecule junction.
authors.affiliation: The Center for Bioelectronics and Biosensors, Biodesign Institute, Arizona State University School of Electrical, Energy and Computer Engineering, 1001 S. McAllister Avenue, Tempe, Arizona 85281-5801, United States.
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hihath
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bruot
authors.forename: Hisao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nakamura
authors.forename: Yoshihiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Asai
authors.forename: Ismael
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Díez-Pérez
authors.forename: Youngu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Luping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Nongjian
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tao
mesh_terms: D004548:Elasticity; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D055615:Electrical Equipment and Supplies; D004566:Electrodes; D004583:Electrons; D004867:Equipment Design; D060739:Phonons; D011743:Pyrimidines / Q000737:chemistry; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds / Q000737:chemistry; D013696:Temperature
chemical_list: D011743:Pyrimidines; D013438:Sulfhydryl Compounds; C030986:pyrimidine