Evaluation of the kinetic property of single-molecule junctions by tunneling current measurements

Abstract

We investigated the formation and breaking of single-molecule junctions of two kinds of dithiol molecules by timeresolved tunneling current measurements in a metal nanogap. The resulting current trajectory was statistically analyzed to determine the single-molecule conductance and, more importantly, to reveal the kinetic property of the single-molecular junction. These results suggested that combining a measurement of the single-molecule conductance and statistical analysis is a promising method to uncover the kinetic properties of the single-molecule junction.