title: A tripodal molecule on a gold surface: orientation-dependent coupling and electronic properties of the molecular legs.
abstract: The realization of molecular electronics demands a detailed knowledge of the correlation between chemical groups and electronic function. It has become obvious during the last years that the conformation of a molecule and its coupling to the connecting electrodes plays a crucial role in its conductance behavior and its electronic function, e.g., as a switch. Knowledge about these relationships is therefore essential for future design of molecular electronic building blocks. We present a new three-dimensional molecule, consisting of three identical molecular wires connected to a headgroup. Due to the well-defined spatial arrangement of the molecule in a nonplanar geometry, it is possible to investigate the conductance behavior of these wires with respect to their position and coupling to the surface electrode with the submolecular resolution of a scanning tunneling microscope. The experimental findings are supported by calculations of the electronic structure and conformation of the molecule on the surface by density functional theory with dispersion corrections.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Nanotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), D-76021 Karlsruhe, Germany. maya.lukas@kit.edu
authors.forename: Maya
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lukas
authors.forename: Kerrin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dössel
authors.forename: Alexandrina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Schramm
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Fuhr
authors.forename: Christophe
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Stroh
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mayor
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fink
authors.forename: Hilbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: v Löhneysen
mesh_terms: D003198:Computer Simulation; D004553:Electric Conductivity; D004579:Electron Transport; D006046:Gold / Q000737:chemistry*; D053768:Metal Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D008956:Models, Chemical; D008958:Models, Molecular
chemical_list: D006046:Gold