single molecule electronics and devices单分子电子产品和设备.pdf

Sensors 2012, 12, 7259-7298; doi:10.3390/s120607259 OPEN ACCESS sensors ISSN 1424-8220 /journal/sensors Review Single Molecule Electronics and Devices Makusu Tsutsui and Masateru Taniguchi * The Institute of Scientific and Industrial Research, Osaka University, 8-1 Mihogaoka, Ibaraki, Osaka 567-0047, Japan; E-Mail: makusu32@sanken.osaka-u.ac.jp * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: taniguti@sanken.osaka-u.ac.jp; Tel.: +81-6-6879-4289; Fax: +81-6-6879-4286. Received: 16 April 2012; in revised form: 15 May 2012 / Accepted: 17 May 2012 / Published: 30 May 2012 Abstract: The manufacture of integrated circuits with single-molecule building blocks is a goal of molecular electronics. While research in the past has been limited to bulk experiments on self-assembled monolayers, advances in technology have now enabled us to fabricate single-molecule junctions. This has led to significant progress in understanding electron transport in molecular systems at the single-molecule level and the concomitant emergence of new device concepts. Here, we review recent developments in this field. We summarize the methods currently used to form metal-molecule-metal structures and some single-molecule techniques essential for characterizing molecular junctions such as inelastic electron tunnelling spectroscopy. We then highlight several important achievements, including demonstration of single-molecule diodes, transistors, and switches