Synthesis and electrical properties of fullerene-based molecular junctions on silicon substrate

We report the synthesis and the electrical properties of fullerene-based molecular junctions on silicon substrates in which the highly π-conjugated molecule C60 (π quantum well) is isolated from the electrodes by alkyl chains (σ tunnel barriers). Initially, the Si/SiO2/σC60 architecture was prepared either by sequential synthesis (3 different routes) or by direct grafting of the presynthesized C60-σ-Si(OEt)3 molecule. We described the chemical synthesis of these routes and the physico-chemical properties of the molecular monolayers. Then the second σ tunnel barrier was added on the Si/SiO2/σC60 junction by applying a hanging mercury drop electrode thiolated with an alkanethiol monolayer. We compared the electronic transport properties of the Si/SiO2/σC60//Hg and Si/SiO2/σC60//σHg molecular junctions, and we demonstrated by transition voltage spectroscopy that the fullerene LUMO - metal Fermi energy offset can be tailored from ∼0.2 eV to ∼1 eV by changing the length of the alkyl chain between the C60 core and the Hg metal electrode (i. e. from direct C60//Hg contact to a 14 carbon atoms tunnel barrier).