Invited Paper EM+NC-WeA3
Single Molecule Electronics and Sensors

Wednesday, October 22, 2008, 2:20 pm, Room 210

The ability to measure and control current through a single molecule is a basic requirement towards the ultimate goal of building an electronic device using single molecules. It also allows one to read the chemical and biological information of the molecule electronically, which opens the door to chemical and biological sensor applications based on electrical measurement of individually wired molecules. To reliably measure the current, one must: 1) provide a reproducible contact between the molecule and two probing electrodes; 2) find a signature to identify that the measured conductance is due to not only the sample molecules but also a single sample molecule; 3) provide a third gate electrode to control the current; and 4) carry out the measurement in aqueous solutions for biologically relevant molecules in order to preserve their native conformations. We will describe methods to attach a single molecule to two electrodes via covalent bonds and control the current through the molecule with an electrochemical gate, and report on sensor applications of the molecular junctions. We will also discuss unresolved issues in the attempt to measure and control electron transport in single molecules.