Bistable hysteresis and resistance switching in hydrogen gold junctions

Authors:
  • MTM. L. Trouwborst
    M. L. Trouwborst
  • EHE. H. Huisman
    E. H. Huisman
  • SMS. J. van der Molen
    S. J. van der Molen
  • BWB. J. van Wees
    B. J. van Wees
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Abstract
Current-voltage characteristics of H2-Au molecular junctions exhibit intriguing steps around a characteristic voltage of 40 mV. Surprisingly, we find that a hysteresis is connected to these steps with a typical time scale > 10 ms. This time constant scales linearly with the power dissipated in the junction beyond an ofset power P_s = IV_s. We propose that the hysteresis is related to vibrational heating of both the molecule in the junction and a set of surrounding hydrogen molecules. Remarkably, we can engineer our junctions such that the hysteresis' characteristic time becomes >days. We demonstrate that reliable switchable devices can be built from such junctions. Hence, our results give new insights in the conductance properties of molecular junctions.