Molecular Landers

Molecular landers are molecules designed for the study of electron transport in a tip‐molecule‐surface experimental set‐up. They comprise a fully aromatic and rigid main board linked to several spacers (legs). When the molecular landers are adsorbed on a metallic surface, the spacers maintain the main board at such a distance from the surface that the aromatic part is electronically decoupled from the surface. One end of this board extends beyond the last spacer and can be chimisorbed by docking along a diatomic step. Therefore in this conformation, the current can flow between the STM tip at one position of the molecular board and the surface at the other end, and only through the aromatic part.