title: Single-Molecule Electronics: Chemical and Analytical Perspectives.
abstract: It is now possible to measure the electrical properties of single molecules using a variety of techniques including scanning probe microcopies and mechanically controlled break junctions. Such measurements can be made across a wide range of environments including ambient conditions, organic liquids, ionic liquids, aqueous solutions, electrolytes, and ultra high vacuum. This has given new insights into charge transport across molecule electrical junctions, and these experimental methods have been complemented with increasingly sophisticated theory. This article reviews progress in single-molecule electronics from a chemical perspective and discusses topics such as the molecule-surface coupling in electrical junctions, chemical control, and supramolecular interactions in junctions and gating charge transport. The article concludes with an outlook regarding chemical analysis based on single-molecule conductance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 7ZD, United Kingdom; email: R.J.Nichols@liverpool.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Richard J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Nichols
authors.forename: Simon J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Higgins
mesh_terms: D004563:Electrochemistry / Q000379:methods*; D004566:Electrodes; D004579:Electron Transport; D004581:Electronics / Q000379:methods*; D016252:Microscopy, Scanning Tunneling / Q000379:methods; D036103:Nanotechnology / Q000379:methods
keywords: mechanically controlled break junction; molecular electronics; molecular wires; organic electronics; scanning tunneling microscope; single molecules; single-molecule conductance