Condensed Matter and Materials Physics(DCMMP)
Physique de la matière condensée et des matériaux (DPMCM)
Eldon EMBERLY
Simon Fraser University
The Smallest Molecular Switch
The field of molecular electronics concerns itself with the study of the electronic properties of single molecules attached to external voltage sources. Molecular wires display an assortment of conductance behaviour and it is thought that they may someday replace conventional semiconductor devices.
In this talk I will discuss the theoretically predicted switching behaviour of the smallest molecular switch, namely a benzene-dithiolate molecule bonded between a gold electrode and a scanning tunneling microscope. Remarkably, the molecule can exist in two different low energy configurations - one conducting and the other not. Flipping between these states is predicted to be induced via lateral motion of the STM tip or voltage pulses. Such a mechanism might explain recent experiments that have seen STM induced switching using similar molecular components.