Fabrication of a Well-Defined Single Benzene Molecule Junction Using Ag Electrodes

The formation of the single benzene molecule junction was investigated for Au and Ag electrodes by conductance measurements and inelastic tunneling electron spectroscopy at 10 K. While a single benzene molecule junction was hardly formed for the Au electrodes, a single benzene molecule junction was formed for the Ag electrodes. The single Ag/benzene/Ag junction showed a fixed conductance value of 0.24 G 0 ( G 0 = 2 e 2 / h ), indicating the formation of a well-defined single benzene molecule junction. By comparing with previously reported results for Pt electrodes, in which the single benzene molecule junction showed various conductance values, it was shown that the moderate metal−molecule interaction is favorable to obtain a well-defined single molecule junction.