Graphene electrodes offer new functionalities in molecular electronic nanodevices

Media releases, information for representatives of the media Media Relations (E) An international team of researchers led by the University of Bern and the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) has revealed a new way to tune the functionality of next-generation molecular electronic devices using graphene. The results could be exploited to develop smaller, higher-performance devices for use in a range of applications including molecular sensing, flexible electronics, and energy conversion and storage, as well as robust measurement setups for resistance standards. The field of nanoscale molecular electronics aims to exploit individual molecules as the building blocks for electronic devices, to improve functionality and enable developers to achieve an unprecedented level of device miniaturization and control. The main obstacle hindering progress in this field is the absence of stable contacts between the molecules and metals used that can both operate at room temperature and provide reproducible results. Graphene possesses not only excellent mechanical stability, but also exceptionally high electronic and thermal conductive properties, making the emerging 2D material very attractive for a range of possible applications in molecular electronics. A team of experimentalists from the University of Bern and theoreticians from NPL (UK) and the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU, Spain), with the help of collaborators from Chuo University (Japan), have demonstrated the stability of multi-layer graphene-based molecular electronic devices down to the single molecule limit.