Themed collection Molecular scale electronics

Tim Su, Michael Inkpen and Haixing Li introduce the Journal of Materials Chemistry C themed collection Molecular Scale Electronics.

A single-molecule non-volatile memory is a crucial component of future nanoscale information storage. This article provides an overview of the design, mechanism and prospects of single-molecule non-volatile memories.

The molecules with multiple anchoring sites offer opportunities for conductance regulation of single-molecule junctions via a switch between different coordination numbers.

An enantiopure organic radical monolayer on gold exhibits efficient spin selectivity properties in electron transport. This result makes thia[4]azahelicenes promising candidates for the development of chiral spintronic molecular-based devices.

Three similar polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon display outstanding emission properties, but only one displays amplified stimulated emission. The lack of available triplet states hinders the triplet formation allowing the amplified stimulated emission.

We have theoretically studied the electron-transport properties of a family of molecular junctions containing the non-alternant antiaromatic pentalene moiety stabilised with various 5-membered heterocycles.

In this work diamino-porphyrin derivatives, in their free base or cobalt complex forms, have been used to construct SMJs.

High-performance single-molecule switches constructed with carbon electrodes can be realized via de/rehydrogenation of the oxazine anchoring groups, not depending on specific molecular backbones.

The interaction force was measured as the adhesive force acting between norcorrole molecules anchored to the probe surface and the sample surface. This study reveals substantial interactions in π-stacked antiaromatics at the single-molecule scale.

An increase in width enhances stability and acts like uniaxial tensile strain. Sub-bandgap regions trigger optoelectronic device applications and negative differential resistance. Nanodevice behavior depends on the width.

We propose a promising method to generate highly spin-polarized currents by connecting a magnetic molecule to carbon electrodes with appropriate anchors, whose HOMOs and LUMOs have distinct features of spatial distribution for the two spin types.

Towards transparent and flexible large area molecular electronic devices.

Dyes with unique donor and acceptor groups outperformed phenothiazine (PTZ)-containing counterparts. 2-amine pyrrole donor induced faster charge transfer (qCT) than PTZ. qCT values reveal that the pyridinium acceptor group enhances charge separation.

Compared to P3BT-out, P3BT-in with sidechains in the inner way has better molecular planarity, narrower bandgap, and stronger light absorption ability, resulting in an increased electron mobility and higher near-infrared photoresponsivity.

To understand the trends in conductivity in bisdithiazolyl-type radical-based molecular materials, one needs to master a holistic view of the parameters governing the charge transport process (namely, λ, H_DA, topology of conduction paths, and ρ_c).

Ionogel as a novel top electrode is suitable for junction testing in aqueous solution for self-assembled monolayers and protein junctions.

The photophysical properties of azobenzene–graphene quantum dot interfaces show enhanced photoinduced hole and energy transfer rates for the trans isomer, making it the acvite specie compared to the cis isomer.

The findings herein reported highlight the role played by planarization in quenching the reactivity and preserving the magnetic anisotropy. The effect is associated with the weakening of the ligand field, which accompanies the π-conjugation increase.

The presented generalized neural network is a reliable and efficient tool for the separation of tunneling-only traces from break-junction data sets.

To achieve the ultimate limit of device miniaturization, it is necessary to have a comprehensive understanding of the structure–property relationship in functional molecular systems used in single-molecule electronics.

Organic thin films composed of highly ordered molecular arrays hold tremendous potential for thermoelectric energy harvesting.

A computational framework to design molecular breadboards is presented. We demonstrate that the conductance of constituent circuits in a bis-terpyridine breadboard can be varied by changing the position of electrode anchoring nitrogen atoms.