One-dimensional (Mo3S3)n Clusters: building blocks of clusters materials and ideal nanowires for molecular electronics


One-dimensional (Mo3S3)n Clusters: building blocks of clusters materials and ideal nanowires for molecular electronics

Gemming, S.; Seifert, G.; Bertram, N.; Fischer, T.; Götz, M.; Ganteför, G.

The geometric and electronic structures of gas phase Mo3nS3n+2 and Mo3n-1S3n+5 clusters are studied experimentally using mass and photoelectron spectroscopy. The experimental results are compared with calculations based on density-functional theory. Although such clusters have been known for decades as main constituents of Chevrel phases, we here report their first gas phase synthesis for sizes up to n=17 (Mo51S53). The smallest entities are Mo6S8 and Mo5S11 with HOMO-LUMO gaps of 0.9eV and 0.5eV. With increasing n, the clusters grow 1-dimensional and form nanowires with a vanishing gap. The sulfur atoms at both ends may easily bind to Au electrodes making these clusters promising components of future nanoelectronic devices.

Keywords: molybdenum sulfide; clusters; Chevrel compounds; density-functional theory

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Publ.-Id: 12661