UC Irvine

Experimental studies on the conductive properties of molecular systems led to the discovery and characterization of two essential elements of molecular electronics: a molecular

wire and a single electron switch. The synthesis and cyclic current versus voltage (I/V) measurements of intrinsically conductive linear chain [-Ag-S-BP-S-]n polymers determined their relatively large conductivity and suggested that mobile Ag adatoms on the roughened Ag surface catalyzed the polymerization. On the other hand, the single electron switch was determined to be controlled by the spin-vibronic density of an odd electron on a single molecule. Analysis of the two-level telegraphic conductance switching produced effective wiring diagrams to control the switch’s frequency, amplitude, polarity, and duty-cycle. Furthermore, it gave insight into the molecule’s governing vibronic Hamiltonian.