Title: From the electronic structure of molecules to molecular structures for electronics

Speaker: Prof. Paul Low

This presentation will summarise recent work from the Low group concerning the design and synthesis of organic compounds and organometallic complexes as components within molecular junctions. The electronic structures and the behaviour of such systems within STM-based break-junctions will be described, with interpretations of the junction characteristics further supported by computational models. Issues of particular interest will include the role of the surface binding groups that contact the molecule to the electrodes within a ‘molecular junction’ (Figure 1), the influence of the chemical nature of the molecular backbone, including the introduction of a metal-containing group within the conduction channel, and the potential roles of the ancillary ligands leading to the design of ‘insulated’ molecular wires. With a look ahead to the construction of molecular-based electronic devices, should time permit we will also turn attention to the challenges of assembling a ‘top electrode’ onto a monolayer film of active molecular components, and putative strategies for integrating these further into device structures.

Figure 1 A schematic of a molecular junction derived from a platinum bis(acetylide) complex.

1. O.A. Al-Owaedi, S. Bock, D.C. Milan, M.C. Oerthel, M.S. Inkpen, A.N. Sobolev, N.J. Long, T. Albrecht, S.J. Higgins, M.R. Bryce, R.J. Nichols, C.J. Lambert, P.J. Low, Nanoscale, 2017, 9, 9902.

2. S. Sangiao, S. Martin, A. Gonzalez-Orive, C. Magen, P.J. Low, J.M. de Teresa, P. Cea Small, 2017, 13, 1603207.

3. L. Herrer, V. Sebastian, S. Martin, A. Gonzalez-Orive, F. Perez-Murano, P.J. Low, J.L. Serrano, J. Santamaria, P. Cea Nanoscale, 2017, 9, 13281.

4.  A. Moneo, A. González-Orive, S. Bock, M. Fenero, L. Herrer, D.C. Milan, M. Lorenzoni, R.J. Nichols,
P. Cea, F. Perez-Murano, P.J. Low, S. Martin, Nanoscale, 2018, 10, 14128.

5.  F.Jiang, D.I. Trupp, N. Algethami, H. Zheng, W. He, A. Alqorashi, C. Zhu, C. Tang, R. Li, J. Liu, H.Sadeghi,  J. Shi, R. Davidson, M. Korb, A.N. Sobolev, M. Naher, S. Sangtarash, P.J. Low,
W. Hong, C.J. Lambert, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 2019, 58, 18987.

6.  M. Naher, D.C. Milan, O.A. Al-Owaedi, I.J. Planje, S. Bock, J. Hurtado-Gallego, P. Bastante, Z. Murtada Abd Dawood, L. Rincón-García, G. Rubio-Bollinger, S.J. Higgins, N. Agraït, C.J. Lambert, R.J. Nichols, P.J. Low, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2021, 143, 3817.