UPMC - 4 place Jussieu - 75005 Paris - Amphithéâtre Charpak (R-d-C, barre 22-23)

Elke Scheer, University of Konstanz

Atomic and Molecular Switches

E. Scheer*, C. Schirm1, M. Matt1, F. Pauly1, J.-C. Cuevas2, P. Nielaba1, J. Wolf3, D. Sysoiev3, T. Huhn3, A. Erbe4, R. Hayakawa1,5, A. Karimi1, J. Kerbusch4, Y. Kim1, K. Luka-Guth1, C. Schirm1, T. Sendler4, S. Bahoosh1, S. Gemming4, T. Hellmuth1, Lokamani4, M. S. Zöllner6, C. Herrmann6

1Department of Physics, University of Konstanz, Germany
2Departamento de Física Teórica de la Materia Condensada and Condensed
Matter Physics Center (IFIMAC), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain
3Department of Chemistry, University of Konstanz, Germany
4Institute for Ion Beam Physics, Helmholtzzentrum Dresden-Rossendorf, Germany
5International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics, National Institute for Materials Science, Japan
6Institute for Inorganic and Applied Chemistry, University of Hamburg, Germany

The possibility to fabricate electronic devices with functional building blocks of atomic size is a major driving force of nanotechnology [1]. Key elements in microelectronics are reliable switches and memories as well as devices showing spin-dependent transport phenomena. Switches are usually realized by transistors and these components have been miniaturized all the way down close to the atomic scale. However, at such scales, three terminals, as required for transistors, are technically challenging to implement. Here I will first present an experiment in which a metallic atomic-size contact has been operated as a reliable and fatigue-resistant two-terminal switch. Current pulses are used to toggle the conductance between two well-defined values in the range of a few conductance quanta [2]. I will then present single-molecule transport experiments carried out on photochromic molecules where light pulses are used to switch the status of the molecule instead of using a gate electrode [3]. Finally, if time permits, I will discuss recent observations of magnetic-field tunable transport in organic radical molecules [4].

1. R. Waser, Nanoelectronics and Information Technology, (Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 3rd edition 2012)
2. C. Schirm et al., Nature Nano. 8, 645 (2013)
3. D. Sysoiev et al., Chem. Eur. J. 17, 6663 (2011), Y. Kim et al., Nano Letters 12, 3736 (2012), B.M. Briechle et al., Beilstein J. Nanotech. 3, 703 (2012), D. Sysoiev et al., Chem. Commun. 48, 11355 (2012), T. Sendler et al, Adv. Sci. 2, 201500017 (2015),
4. R. Hayakawa et al., Nano Letters 16, 4960 (2016)