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Science 29 August 2003:
Vol. 301. no. 5637, pp. 1221 - 1223
DOI: 10.1126/science.1087481
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Reports

Measurement of Single-Molecule Resistance by Repeated Formation of Molecular Junctions

Bingqian Xu and Nongjian J. Tao*

The conductance of a single molecule connected to two gold electrodes was determined by repeatedly forming thousands of gold-molecule-gold junctions. Conductance histograms revealed well-defined peaks at integer multiples of a fundamental conductance value, which was used to identify the conductance of a single molecule. The resistances near zero bias were 10.5 ± 0.5, 51 ± 5, 630 ± 50, and 1.3 ± 0.1 megohms for hexanedithiol, octanedithiol, decanedithiol, and 4,4' bipyridine, respectively. The tunneling decay constant (ßN) for N-alkanedithiols was 1.0 ± 0.1 per carbon atom and was weakly dependent on the applied bias. The resistance and ßN values are consistent with first-principles calculations.

Department of Electrical Engineering and The Center for Solid State Electronics Research, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.

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