Single-molecule conductance of a chemically modified, π-extended tetrathiafulvalene and its charge-transfer complex with F₄TCNQ

Abstract

We describe the synthesis and single-molecule electrical transport properties of a molecular wire containing a π-extended tetrathiafulvalene (exTTF) group and its charge-transfer complex with F₄TCNQ. We form single-molecule junctions using the in situ break junction technique using a homebuilt scanning tunneling microscope with a range of conductance between 10 G₀ down to 10⁻⁷ G₀. Within this range we do not observe a clear conductance signature of the neutral parent molecule, suggesting either that its conductance is too low or that it does not form a stable junction. Conversely, we do find a clear conductance signature in the experiments carried out on the charge-transfer complex. Due to the fact we expected this species to have a higher conductance than the neutral molecule, we believe this supports the idea that the conductance of the neutral molecule is very low, below our measurement sensitivity. This idea is further supported by theoretical calculations. To the best of our knowledge, these are the first reported single-molecule conductance measurements on a molecular charge-transfer species.