An electrical junction formed by mechanical contact between two self-assembled monolayers (SAMs)sa SAM formed from an dialkyl disulfide with a covalently linked tetracyanoquinodimethane group that is supported by silver (or gold) and a SAM formed from an alkanethiolate SAM that is supported by mercurysrectifies current. The precursor to the SAM on silver (or gold) was bis(20-(2-((2,5-cyclohexadiene-1,4-diylidene)dimalonitrile))decyl)) disulfide and that for the SAM on mercury was HS(CH2)n-1CH3 (n ) 14, 16, 18). The electrical properties of the junctions were characterized by current-voltage measurements. The ratio of the conductivity of the junction in the forward bias (Hg cathodic) to that in the reverse bias (Hg anodic), at a potential of 1 V, was 9 ( 2 when the SAM on mercury was derived from HS(CH2)15CH3. The ratio of the conductivity in the forward bias to that in the reverse bias increased with decreasing chain length of the alkanethiol used to form the SAM on mercury. These results demonstrate that a single redox center asymmetrically placed in a metal-insulator-metal junction can cause the rectification of current and indicate that a fixed dipole in the insulating region of a metal-insulator-metal junction is not required for rectification.

Nanowire metal-molecule-metal junctions containing dithoilated molecules of dodecane (C12), oligo-(phenylene ethynylene) (OPE), and oligo(phenylene vinylene) (OPV) were prepared by replicating the pores of sub-40 nm diameter polycarbonate track etched membranes. Bottom Au-S or Pd-S contacts were made by potential-assisted molecule assembly onto the tips of the first segment of the electrochemically deposited nanowires. Top S-Ag or S-Pd contacts were formed by depositing Ag or Pd nanoparticles, which also served as a thin seed layer for electrodeposition of the second nanowire segment. Room-temperature currentvoltage (I-V) measurements of individual nanowires show that the conductance of junctions formed with π-conjugated oligomers are several orders of magnitude larger than the saturated alkanes, with the OPV junctions having the highest conductance. The molecular wire junction conductance was also found to be dependent on the metal contacts with symmetric Pd-Pd junctions yielding the best metal-molecule coupling and highest conductance.

Atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used to measure the chemical binding force of discrete electron donor-acceptor complexes formed at the interface between proximal self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). Derivatives of the well-known electron donor N,N,N',N'-tetramethylphenylenediamine (TMPD) and the electron acceptor 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) were immobilized on Au-coated AFM tips and substrates by formation of SAMs of N,N,N'-trimethyl-N'-(10-thiodecyl)-1,4-phenylenediamine (I) and bis(10-(2-((2,5-cyclohexadiene-1,4-diylidene)dimalonitrile))decyl) disulfide (II), respectively. Pull-off forces between modified tips and substrates were measured under CHCl(3) solvent. The mean pull-off forces associated with TMPD/TCNQ microcontacts were more than an order of magnitude larger than the pull-off forces for TMPD/TMPD and TCNQ/TCNQ microcontacts, consistent with the presence of specific charge-transfer interactions between proximal TMPD donors and TCNQ acceptors. Furthermore, histograms of pull-off forces for TMPD/TCNQ contacts displayed 70 +/- 15 pN periodicity, assigned to the rupture of individual TMPD-TCNQ donor-acceptor (charge-transfer) complexes. Both the mean pull-off force and the 70 pN force quantum compare favorably with a contact mechanics model that incorporates the effects of discrete chemical bonds, solvent surface tensions, and random contact area variations in consecutive pull-offs. From the 70 pN force quantum, we estimate the single bond energy to be approximately 4-5 kJ/mol, in reasonable agreement with thermodynamic data. These experiments establish that binding forces due to discrete chemical bonds can be detected directly in AFM pull-off measurements employing SAM modified probes and substrates. Because SAMs can be prepared with a wide range of exposed functional groups, pull-off measurements between SAM-coated tips and substrates may provide a general strategy for directly measuring binding forces associated with a variety of simple, discrete chemical bonds, e.g., single hydrogen bonds.

Pulloff forces were measured under solvent for Au-coated atomic force microscopy (AFM) tips in contact with -S-acetate-, -O-acetate-, -SH-, or -OH-terminated self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). The SAMs were formed by adsorption of ω-functionalized undecylphosphonic acids on metal oxide substrates. In ethanol and hexadecane, the mean force required to rupture Au/S-acetate microcontacts was 7 times greater than the mean force required to break Au/O-acetate contacts, consistent with the known affinity of S-containing functional groups for Au. Further, rupture force histograms for Au/S-acetate microcontacts under ethanol or hexadecane showed 0.1 nN periodicity. Rupture forces for Au/-SH microcontacts were 4 times greater than for Au/-OH microcontacts under ethanol, and the rupture force histograms showed the same 0.1 nN periodicity. We have assigned this 0.1 nN force quantum to rupture of individual chemical bonds and have estimated the bond energy to be on the order of 10 kJ/mol. The specific interaction corresponding to this energy appears to be abstraction of Au atoms from the tip surface upon pulloff. Our ability to detect these discrete interactions was a function of the solvent in which the measurements were made. For example, in water there was no difference in the mean pulloff force for Au/S-acetate and Au/O-acetate contacts and the histograms did not exhibit periodicity. In general, mean rupture forces for tip-SAM microcontacts are strongly solvent-dependent. To observe single bond rupture forces directly, we argue that the tip-substrate interfacial energy must be negatiVe and larger in absolute value than the substrate-solvent and tip-solvent interfacial energies [i.e., |γ substrate-tip | > (γ tip-solvent + γ substrate-solvent )]. Otherwise, nonspecific solvent exclusion effects dominate the microcontact adhesion. These measurements show that, whereas rupture forces for tip-SAM microcontacts are solvent-dependent, these forces can be sensitive, under the right conditions, to fluctuations in the number of discrete chemical interactions.