Orbital Gating of Single Molecule Transistors

Electron devices containing molecules as the active region have been an active area of research over the last few years. In molecular-scale devices, a longstanding challenge has been to create a true three-terminal device; e.g., one that operates by modifying the internal energy structure of the molecule, analogous to conventional FETs. Here we report the observation of such a solid-state molecular device, in which transport current is directly modulated by an external gate voltage. We have realized a molecular transistor made from the prototype molecular junction, benzene dithiol, and have used a combination of spectroscopies to determine the internal energetic structure of the molecular junction. Resonance-enhanced coupling to the nearest molecular orbital is revealed by electron tunneling spectroscopy, demonstrating for the first time direct molecular orbital gating in a molecular electronic device.