Gradual Change between Coherent and Incoherent Tunneling Regimes Induced by Polarizable Halide Substituents in Molecular Tunnel Junctions.

ABSTRACT: This paper describes a gradual transition of charge transport across molecular junctions from coherent to incoherent tunneling by increasing the number and polarizability of halide substituents of phenyl-terminated aliphatic monolayers of the form S(CH₂)₁₀OPhX_n, X = F, Cl, Br, or I; n = 0, 1, 2, 3, or 5. In contrast to earlier work where incoherent tunneling was induced by introducing redox-active groups or increasing the molecular length, we show that increasing the polarizability, while keeping the organization of the monolayer structure unaltered, results in a gradual change in the mechanism of tunneling of charge carriers where the activation energy increased from 23 meV for n = 0 (associated with coherent tunneling) to 257 meV for

SUBMITTER: Chen X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11345807 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature