Quantifying the conductivity of a single polyene chain by lifting with an STM tip

Conjugated polymers are promising candidates for molecular wires in nanoelectronics, with flexibility in mechanics, stability in chemistry and variety in electrical conductivity. Polyene, as a segment of polyacetylene, is a typical conjugated polymer with straightforward structure and wide-range adjustable conductance. To obtain atomic scale understanding of charge transfer in polyene, we have measured the conductance of a single polyene-based molecular chain via lifting it up with scanning tunneling microscopy tip. Different from semiconducting characters in pristine polyene (polyacetylene), high conductance and low decay constant are obtained, along with an electronic state around Fermi level and characteristic vibrational mode. These observed phenomena result from pinned molecular orbital owing to molecule-electrode coupling at the interface, and weakened bond length alternation due to electron-phonon coupling inside single molecular chain. Our findings emphasize the interfacial characteristics in molecular junctions and promising properties of polyene, with single molecular conductance as a vital tool for bringing insights into the design and construction of nanodevices. Polyene is a segment of polyacetylene, a conductive polymer. Here, the authors measured the conductance of single molecular chain of trans -polyene and found a high conductivity and low decay constant, attributed to the alignment of the energy levels.