R&D: Conductance Switching in Molecular Self-Assembled Monolayers for Application of Storage

The Journal of Physical Chemistry C has published an article written by Chao Chen, Sha Yang, Guirong Su,Jingtai Li,Ji-Chang Ren, and Wei Liu, Nano and Heterogeneous Materials Center, School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, Jiangsu, China.

Abstract: “By carrying out dispersion-inclusive density-functional theory computations, we propose a novel type of molecular memory based on the physisorbed and chemisorbed states of a layer of aromatic molecules on metal surfaces. As exemplified by hexachlorobenzene (C6Cl6) on Pt(111), we find that the self-assembled monolayer exhibits an intriguing bistable behavior: molecules can stay stable in either the physiosorbed state (‘1’) or the chemisorbed state (‘0’), along with a moderate switching barrier. Correspondingly, our transport computations based on the nonequilibrium Green’s function uncover a distinct conductance switching behavior of the molecular layer at the two states. Finally, we determine the thermal stability of the well-defined arrays and demonstrate the feasibility of using a molecule as a bit in an ordered pattern.“