Wang, Xintai, Bennett, Troy L R, Ismael, Ali et al. (10 more authors) (2020) Scale-Up of Room-Temperature Constructive Quantum Interference from Single Molecules to Self-Assembled Molecular-Electronic Films. Journal of the American Chemical Society. pp. 8555-8560. ISSN 1520-5126
Abstract
The realization of self-assembled molecular-electronic films, whose room-temperature transport properties are controlled by quantum interference (QI), is an essential step in the scale-up of QI effects from single molecules to parallel arrays of molecules. Recently, the effect of destructive QI (DQI) on the electrical conductance of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) has been investigated. Here, through a combined experimental and theoretical investigation, we demonstrate chemical control of different forms of constructive QI (CQI) in cross-plane transport through SAMs and assess its influence on cross-plane thermoelectricity in SAMs. It is known that the electrical conductance of single molecules can be controlled in a deterministic manner, by chemically varying their connectivity to external electrodes. Here, by employing synthetic methodologies to vary the connectivity of terminal anchor groups around aromatic anthracene cores, and by forming SAMs of the resulting molecules, we clearly demonstrate that this signature of CQI can be translated into SAM-on-gold molecular films. We show that the conductance of vertical molecular junctions formed from anthracene-based molecules with two different connectivities differ by a factor of approximately 16, in agreement with theoretical predictions for their conductance ratio based on CQI effects within the core. We also demonstrate that for molecules with thioether anchor groups, the Seebeck coefficient of such films is connectivity dependent and with an appropriate choice of connectivity can be boosted by ∼50%. This demonstration of QI and its influence on thermoelectricity in SAMs represents a critical step toward functional ultra-thin-film devices for future thermoelectric and molecular-scale electronics applications.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2020 American Chemical Society. This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Sciences (York) > Chemistry (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 15 May 2020 09:00 |
Last Modified: | 20 Feb 2025 00:09 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1021/jacs.9b13578 |
Status: | Published |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1021/jacs.9b13578 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:160759 |
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