Low-bias conductance of single benzene molecules contacted by direct Au-C and Pt-C bonds

The electronic transport properties of a single benzene molecule connected to gold and platinum electrodes through the direct Au–C or Pt–C bond are investigated by using a self-consistent ab initio approach that combines the non-equilibrium Green’s function (NEGF) formalism with density functional theory (DFT). Our calculations show that the benzene molecule can bind to the Au(111) surface via direct Au–C bond at the adatom, atop and bridge sites. The largest zero-bias conductance is calculated for the bridge site but it is only G = 0.37G0 (G0 = 2e 2 / h). In contrast benzene binds to the Pt(111) surface via direct Pt–C bond only at the adatom and atop sites. When the binding site is the adatom a stable molecular junction forms with a zero-bias conductance as large as 1.15G0. This originates from the efficient coupling between the extended π -type highest occupied molecular orbital of benzene and the conducting states of the Pt electrodes via the 5dxz atomic orbital of the adatoms. The calculated transmission is robust to the choice of DFT functionals, illustrating the potential of the Pt–C bond for constructing future molecular electronic devices. (Some figures in this article are in colour only in the electronic version)