title: Controlling Electrical Conductance through a π-Conjugated Cruciform Molecule by Selective Anchoring to Gold Electrodes.
abstract: Tuning charge transport at the single-molecule level plays a crucial role in the construction of molecular electronic devices. Introduced herein is a promising and operationally simple approach to tune two distinct charge-transport pathways through a cruciform molecule. Upon in situ cleavage of triisopropylsilyl groups, complete conversion from one junction type to another is achieved with a conductance increase by more than one order of magnitude, and it is consistent with predictions from ab initio transport calculations. Although molecules are well known to conduct through different orbitals (either HOMO or LUMO), the present study represents the first experimental realization of switching between HOMO- and LUMO-dominated transport within the same molecule.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Freiestrasse 3, 3012 Bern (Switzerland).
authors.forename: Cancan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Freiestrasse 3, 3012 Bern (Switzerland).
authors.forename: Songjie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Center for Atomic-scale Materials Design (CAMD), Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark, Fysikvej, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby (Denmark).
authors.forename: Kristian
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Baruël Ørnsø
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Freiestrasse 3, 3012 Bern (Switzerland).
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Reber
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Freiestrasse 3, 3012 Bern (Switzerland).
authors.forename: Masoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Baghernejad
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Freiestrasse 3, 3012 Bern (Switzerland).
authors.forename: Yongchun
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Fu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Freiestrasse 3, 3012 Bern (Switzerland).
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wandlowski
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Freiestrasse 3, 3012 Bern (Switzerland).
authors.forename: Silvio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Decurtins
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Freiestrasse 3, 3012 Bern (Switzerland). hong@dcb.unibe.ch.
authors.forename: Wenjing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.affiliation: Center for Atomic-scale Materials Design (CAMD), Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark, Fysikvej, 2800 Kgs. Lyngby (Denmark). thygesen@fysik.dtu.dk.
authors.forename: Kristian Sommer
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Thygesen
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Bern, Freiestrasse 3, 3012 Bern (Switzerland). liu@dcb.unibe.ch.
authors.forename: Shi-Xia
authors.initials: SX
authors.lastname: Liu
keywords: ab initio calculations; conducting materials; gold; molecular electronics; single-molecule studies