Current-Voltage Characteristics of Organic Molecular Wires by Conducting Atomic Force Microscopy

Using an AFM with a conducting cantilever, the current versus voltage (I-V) characteristics of carotenedithiol molecular wires which have different end groups are measured. An Au nanoparticle is attached to each molecule via the protruding thiol group and a PtIr coated AFM probe is used as an electrode to contact with the molecule through the Au nanoparticle. Then it was reconfirmed by the I-V measurement. The results show that phenyl substituted carotenedithiol molecules are better conducting properties than those of bromo-phenyl substituted one which caused by the different electron transport properties. In this talk, we'll present the possibility of organic molecular wires for the nano devices[3].