Investigation of intrinsic charge transport via alkyl thiol molecular electronic junctions with conductive probe atomic force microscopy

Herein, we demonstrate characterization of intrinsic charge transport behavior of alkyl thiol molecular electronic junctions using a conductive probe atomic force microscopy (CP-AFM). The stable contact between the component molecules and metallic electrodes were established by locating a conductive probe in a static position onto alkyl thiol monolayers, deposited on metal substrates. Then, we performed a combination of various measurement techniques so as to probe the intrinsic charge transport in the molecular junctions, which included temperature-, length-, and force-dependent current–voltage characterizations. Our findings can self-consistently fulfil a criterion in molecular electronics to accomplish a valid junction formation with CP-AFM.