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Metal/molecule interfaces

Dispersion forces unveiled

Nature Materials volume 11, pages 834–835 (2012)Cite this article

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The role of dispersion forces in molecule–metal bonding has often been underestimated or ignored. Two groups now report independent single-molecule experiments that illustrate and quantify the effect of such interactions on bonding strength.

Research in molecular electronics traditionally relies on cartoons to interpret and communicate experimental results. Typical experiments are aimed at applying two electrical contacts to individual organic molecules and at characterizing electronic transport through the molecular bridges formed. The fact that the molecules are ten times smaller than any structure that can currently be nanofabricated implies that some form of self-assembly needs to be used in the process. This strategy seems to be very effective in that it has led to a lot of successful experiments, but the inherent difficulty remains that the structures formed can neither be controlled nor imaged. Almost without exception, experimental papers therefore contain some artistic representation of the molecular structure, the bonding configuration and the atomic-scale metal electrodes. Usually these pictures show the molecule suspended straight, bound through its anchoring groups to nicely ordered pyramidal gold electrode tips. Only recently have deviations from this ideal geometry been appreciated1,2.

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Figure 1: Single-molecule experiments provide quantitative data on dispersion interactions.

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  1. Jan van Ruitenbeek is at the Kamerlingh Onnes Laboratory, Leiden University, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands,

    Jan van Ruitenbeek

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  1. Jan van Ruitenbeek
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Correspondence to Jan van Ruitenbeek.

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van Ruitenbeek, J. Dispersion forces unveiled. Nature Mater 11, 834–835 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat3436

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