Single Molecule Conductance, Thermopower, and Transition Voltage

We have measured the thermopower as well as other important charge transport quantities, including conductance, current–voltage characteristics, and transition voltage of single molecules. The thermopower has little correlation with the conductance, but it decreases with the transition voltage, which is consistent with a theory based on Landauer’s formula. Since the transition voltage reflects the molecular energy level alignment, our finding also shows that the thermopower provides valuable information about the relative alignment between the molecular energy levels and the electrodes’ Fermi energy level.