Determination of the NDR and Electron Transport Properties of Self-Assembled Nitro-Benzene Monolayers Using UHV-STM

We investigated the negative differential resistance (NDR) property of self-assembled 4,4-di(ethynylphenyl)-2'-nitro-l-(thioacetyl)benzene ('nitro-benzene'), which has been well known as a conducting molecule [1], Self-assembly monolayers (SAMs) were prepared on Au (111), which had been thermally deposited onto pre-treated $(H_2SO_4: H_2O_2=3:1)$ Si, The Au substrate was exposed to a 1mM solution of 1-dodecanethiol in ethanol for 24 hours to form a monolayer. After thorough rinsing of the sample, it was exposed to a $0.1{\mu}M$ solution of nitro-benzene in dimethylformamide (DMF) for 30 min and kept in the dark during immersion to avoid photo-oxidation. Following the assembly, the samples were removed from the solutions, rinsed thoroughly with methanol, acetone, and $CH_2Cl_2$, and finally blown dry with $N_2$. Under these conditions, we measured the electrical properties of SAMs using ultra high vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy (UHV-STM) and scanning tunneling spectroscopy (STS) [2]. As a result, we confirmed the properties of NDR in between the positive and negative region.