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The use of a gate electrode allows us to gain deeper insight into the electronic structure of molecular junctions. It is widely used for spectroscopy of the molecular levels and its excited states, for changing the charge state of the molecule and investigating higher order processes such as co-tunneling and the Kondo effect. Gate electrodes have been implemented in several types of nanoscale devices such as electromigration junctions, mechanically controllable break junctions, and devices with carbon-based electrodes. Here we review the state-of-the-art in the field of single-molecule transitors. We discuss the experimental challenges and describe the advances made for the different approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Weinvestigate vibron-assisted electron transport in single-moleculetransistors containing an individual Fe4Single-MoleculeMagnet. We observe a strong suppression of the tunneling current atlow bias in combination with vibron-assisted excitations. The observedfeatures are explained by a strong electron–vibron couplingin the framework of the Franck–Condon model supported by density-functionaltheory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Van der Waals magnetic materials are promising candidates for spintronics and testbeds for exotic magnetic phenomena in low dimensions. The two-dimensional (2D) limit in these materials is typically reached by mechanically breaking the van der Waals interactions between layers. Alternative approaches to producing large amounts of flakes rely on wet methods such as liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE). Here, we report an optimized route for obtaining monolayers of magnetic cylindrite by LPE. We show that the selection of exfoliation times is the determining factor in producing a statistically significant amount of monolayers while keeping relatively big flake areas (~1 µm2). We show that the cylindrite lattice is preserved in the flakes after LPE. To study the electron transport properties, we have fabricated field-effect transistors based on LPE cylindrite. Flakes are deterministically positioned between nanoscale electrodes by dielectrophoresis. We show that dielectrophoresis can selectively move the larger flakes into the devices. Cylindrite nanoscale flakes present a p-doped semiconducting behaviour, in agreement with the mechanically exfoliated counterparts. Alternating current (AC) admittance spectroscopy sheds light on the role played by potential barriers between different flakes in terms of electron transport properties. The present large-scale exfoliation and device fabrication strategy can be extrapolated to other families of magnetic materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]