Resonant tunneling through a C60 molecular junction in liquid environment

TL;DR

This study investigates electronic transport through C60 molecules in a liquid environment using break junctions, revealing conductance peaks influenced by the environment and modeled via resonant tunneling to understand transport mechanisms.

Contribution

It demonstrates resonant tunneling behavior in C60 molecular junctions in liquids and extracts tunneling rates, highlighting environmental effects on conductance.

Findings

Conductance peaks observed with varying electrode separation.

Environment significantly influences conductance curve shapes.

Resonant tunneling model successfully explains transport properties.

Abstract

We present electronic transport measurements through thiolated C$_{60}$ molecules in liquid environment. The molecules were placed within a mechanically controllable break junction using a single anchoring group per molecule. When varying the electrode separation of the C$_{60}$-modified junctions, we observed a peak in the conductance traces. The shape of the curves is strongly influenced by the environment of the junction as shown by measurements in two distinct solvents. In the framework of a simple resonant tunneling model, we can extract the electronic tunneling rates governing the transport properties of the junctions.