Progress in self-assembled single-molecule electronic devices

Recent years have seen progress in several areas regarding single molecule electronic devices. A number of interesting structure-property relationships have been observed, including vibronic effects, spin transitions, and molecular electronic interference known as quantum interference. Together, these observations highlight what the rich opportunities in molecular design might bring in terms of advanced device properties. Pertinent challenges are related to development of high yield preparative procedures for fabrication of single molecule devices in a parallel and reproducible way. With this highlight article we review recent progress in the field considering self-assembled formation of metal nanogaps incorporating single molecules for single molecule electronics applications. We discuss methods for the formation of the nanogaps as well as methods attempting to achieve single molecule functionality in each individual device. © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2013.