Single‐Molecule Electrochemical Transistors

Abstract

Single-molecule electrochemical transistors are a type of novel molecular devices in which the tunneling current through the single-molecule junction is modulated by the electrochemical gate, and is considered a promising candidate to be employed in molecular integrated circuits for building the future "molecular computers." Benefiting from the particular interfacial electrical double layer, the current modulation process can be realized through direct orbital gating as well as electrochemical electron transfer driven by electrode potential, thus significantly enriching the functions of the transistor devices. This review focuses on the transfer characteristics and the performance of several typical types of single-molecule electrochemical transistors and the prospects for the fabrication toward integrated devices.

Single-molecule field effect and conductance switching driven by electric field and proton transfer

“…In the ionic liquid gated single-molecule FET, an electrical double layer is formed at the interface between the ionic liquid and the single-molecule junction. Because the thickness of the dielectric is reduced to a dimension comparable to the ionic radius, a strong gate electric field is generated to effectively manipulate the molecular orbitals, which is different from the case of electrochemical gating that accompanies redox reactions ( 23 ). In the present study, 5,15-di(4-aminobiphenyl) porphyrin (fig.…”

Recent progress in single-molecule transistors: their designs, mechanisms and applications

“…However, single-molecule FETs with liquid ion gates can make up for the shortcomings of solid-state FETs, can operate in a liquid ion environment and achieve high gate efficiency. 5,51,52 Single-molecule FETs with liquid gates can modulate molecular conductance through direct orbital gating or electrochemical electron transfer driven by the ionic doublelayer potential.…”

“…Single-molecule field-effect transistors (FETs) are not only an important part of future integrated circuits, but also an effective experimental platform for studying the physical and chemical laws at the molecular scale. [1][2][3][4][5][6][7] The current research of singlemolecule transistors mainly focuses on two aspects. One is how to design and construct various types of single-molecule FETs technically, and the other is to use single-molecule FETs as experimental platforms to explore the laws and realize various a Center of Single-Molecule Sciences, Institute of Modern Optics, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Micro-scale Optical Information Science and Technology, Frontiers Science Center for New Organic Matter, College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, Nankai University, 38 Tongyan Road, Jinnan District, Tianjin 300350, P. R. China.…”

Charge transport in molecular junctions: General physical pictures, electrical measurement techniques, and their challenges

“…Other redox‐related CT mechanisms and molecular systems are extensively reviewed in ref. [97] This mini‐review aims to demonstrate the ability of to map ELA and characterize CT of redox‐active EME junctions.…”