| Title | Charge redistribution and transport in molecular contacts |
| Authors | M. Corso, M. Ondracek, C. Lotze, P. Hapala, K. J. Franke, P. Jelinek, J. I. Pascual |
| Journal | Physical Review Letters |
| Vol. 115, 2015, pg. 136101 |
| Abstract | The forces between two single molecules brought into contact, and their connection with charge transport through the molecular junction, are here studied using non contact AFM, STM, and DFT simulations. A carbon monoxide molecule approached to an acetylene molecule (C2H2) feels initially weak attractive electrostatic forces, partly arising from charge reorganization in the presence of molecular dipoles. We find that the molecular contact is chemically passive, and protects the electron tunneling barrier from collapsing, even in the limit of repulsive forces. However, we find subtle conductance and force variations at different contacting sites along the C2H2 molecule attributed to a weak overlap of their respective frontier orbitals. |
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