Controlling Single-Molecule Negative Differential Resistance in a Double-Barrier Tunnel Junction

Abstract

We observed the transition from negative differential resistance (NDR) to the absence of NDR in the differential conductance (dI/dV) spectra of single copper-phthalocyanine (CuPc) molecules adsorbed on one, two, and three atomic layers of NaBr grown on a NiAl(110) substrate. Through numerical simulation, this transition is attributed to two phenomena in the double-barrier tunnel junction: (i) the opposite bias dependence of the vacuum and NaBr barrier heights, and (ii) the changing barrier widths for CuPc molecules adsorbed on different layers of NaBr.