title: Length-dependent thermal transport along molecular chains.
abstract: We present heat-transport measurements conducted with a vacuum-operated scanning thermal microscope to study the thermal conductance of monolayers of nine different alkane thiols self-assembled on Au(111) surfaces as a function of their length (2 to 18 methylene units). The molecular thermal conductance is probed in a confined area with a diameter below 10 nm in the contact between a silicon tip and the self-assembled monolayer. This yields a pWK(-1) sensitivity per molecule at a tip temperature of 200-300 °C versus the gold at room temperature. We found a conductance variance of up to a factor of 3 as a function of alkane chain length, with maximum conductance for a chain length of four carbon atoms.
authors.affiliation: IBM Research-Zurich, Säumerstrasse 4, CH-8803 Rüschlikon, Switzerland and Institute of Microstructure Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz Platz 1, D-76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Meier
authors.affiliation: IBM Research-Zurich, Säumerstrasse 4, CH-8803 Rüschlikon, Switzerland and Nanotechnology Group, ETH Zürich, Säumerstrasse 4, CH-8803 Rüschlikon, Switzerland.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Menges
authors.affiliation: IBM Research-Zurich, Säumerstrasse 4, CH-8803 Rüschlikon, Switzerland.
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nirmalraj
authors.affiliation: Institute of Microstructure Technology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Hermann-von-Helmholtz Platz 1, D-76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, Germany.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Hölscher
authors.affiliation: IBM Research-Zurich, Säumerstrasse 4, CH-8803 Rüschlikon, Switzerland.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Riel
authors.affiliation: IBM Research-Zurich, Säumerstrasse 4, CH-8803 Rüschlikon, Switzerland.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gotsmann