The world-wide interest in nanoscale electronics
has re-kindled interest in questions regarding the electronic
functionality that organic molecules may offer. The suggestion
by Aviram and Ratner in 1974 that molecules can form a functional
electronic component has become a cornerstone in the recent
world-wide effort to search for and exploit novel functionality
at the nanometer length scale. While appealing intellectually,
the facile use of molecules to achieve electronic functionality
is far from settled. New techniques, both theoretical and experimental,
must be developed to answer fundamental questions.
We have been active in exploiting scanning tunneling microscope
(STM) techniques to measure the molecular conductance of self-assembled
monolayers (SAMs) of molecules. While it seems premature to
wildly speculate at this time on the use of molecules in devices,
experiments to further a basic understanding of the factors
influencing current flow through molecules can be performed
in a scientific and systematic way. This view reflects our broad-based
experimental approach to the topic of molecular conduction in
which we focus on measuring the I(V) behavior for a few (possibly
only one) molecules.
