title: Multichannel conductance of folded single-molecule wires aided by through-space conjugation.
abstract: Deciphering charge transport through multichannel pathways in single-molecule junctions is of high importance to construct nanoscale electronic devices and deepen insight into biological redox processes. Herein, we report two tailor-made folded single-molecule wires featuring intramolecular π-π stacking interactions. The scanning tunneling microscope (STM) based break-junction technique and theoretical calculations show that through-bond and through-space conjugations are integrated into one single-molecule wire, allowing for two simultaneous conducting channels in a single-molecule junction. These folded molecules with stable π-π stacking interaction offer conceptual advances in single-molecule multichannel conductance, and are perfect models for conductance studies in biological systems, organic thin films, and π-stacked columnar aggregates.
authors.affiliation: Guangdong Innovative Research Team, SCUT-HKUST Joint Research Laboratory, State Key Laboratory of Luminescent Materials and Devices, South China University of Technology (SCUT), Guangzhou 510640 (China).
authors.forename: Long
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ya-Hao
authors.initials: YH
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Bairong
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: Han
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Nie
authors.forename: Rongrong
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Anjun
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Xiao-Shun
authors.initials: XS
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Zujin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: Ben Zhong
authors.initials: BZ
authors.lastname: Tang
mesh_terms: D016252:Microscopy, Scanning Tunneling; D053770:Nanowires; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction
keywords: conductance; folded molecules; scanning tunneling microcopy; single-molecule wire; π-π stacking