Direct comparison of the electronic coupling efficiency of Sulfur and Selenium anchoring groups for molecules adsorbed onto gold electrodes

Abstract : We performed air and ultra-high vacuum scanning tunneling microscopy experiments in order to compare the electronic coupling provided by S and by Se used as alligator clips for bisthiol- and biselenol-terthiophene molecules adsorbed onto gold. The molecules were inserted in a dodecanethiol self-assembled monolayer. Their apparent height above the dodecanethiol matrix was used as a measure of the electronic coupling strength corresponding to S and Se, respectively. We show that the insertion behaviors of the two molecules are qualitatively the same, and that Se provides systematically a better coupling link than S whatever the tunneling conditions