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MOLECULAR ELECTRONICS

Charge transport in the inverted Marcus region

Nature Nanotechnology volume 13, pages 276–277 (2018)Cite this article

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Observation of temperature-independent conduction in a self-assembled monolayer may hint at an unexplored charge-transport regime.

The development of molecular electronic devices has often focused on creating atomic-scale systems that mimic conventional semiconductor devices, such as transistors and diodes, with the goal of achieving the ultimate miniaturization of devices under Moore’s Law1. Beyond this goal of miniaturization, other works in this area have come from examining either unique transport phenomena or exploring novel device architectures that move beyond traditional schemes for computation2,3. These studies aim to examine potential futures for electronics that operate at the atomic scale, regardless of which material is eventually deemed superior. Along these lines, writing in Nature Nanotechnology, Yuan et al.4 now report on the possibility of utilizing charge transfer in the inverted Marcus region — a phenomenon that has been studied in chemical systems in solution for decades — to observe temperature-independent charge transport in a self-assembled monolayer even when the carrier thermally relaxes.

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Fig. 1: Marcus regions in a metal–molecule–metal junction.

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  1. Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA, USA

    Joshua Hihath

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  1. Joshua Hihath
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Correspondence to Joshua Hihath.

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Hihath, J. Charge transport in the inverted Marcus region. Nature Nanotech 13, 276–277 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-018-0115-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-018-0115-1

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