First Measurement Of The Ability Of A Very Long Molecular Wire To Conduct Electric Current
Saturday, March 14, 2009 - 21:21
in Physics & Chemistry
For the first time, researchers have measured the ability of a single, very long molecular wire to carry electric current. Until now, there were only statistical measurements on a collection of wires a few nanometers long. Now, thanks to an ingenious experiment using a scanning tunneling microscope, the researchers have characterized individual polymer chains of known length, up to 20 nanometers long. They confirm what is predicted by theory: the ability to conduct electric current decreases exponentially with the length of the wire.