The study of charge transport through organic thin films: mechanism, tools and applications

In this paper, we discuss the current state of organic and molecular-scale electronics, some experimental methods used to characterize charge transport through molecular junctions and some theoretical models (superexchange and barrier tunnelling models) used to explain experimental results. Junctions incorporating self-assembled monolayers of organic molecules—and, in particular, junctions with mercury-drop electrodes—are described in detail, as are the issues of irreproducibility associated with such junctions (due, in part, to defects at the metal–molecule interface).