The spectroscopical work derived from my MCSA-IF provides fundamental insights of utmost importance for nanoelectronics, molecular spectroscopy and bioelectrochemistry. Vibrational fingerprints provide entirely new insights into the interplay between chemical bonding, molecular geometry, and charge transfer of molecules at electrified interfaces. All the new structural information that the designed platform provides such as conformational changes in the junctions and/or electrode|molecule contact geometries, are well-known to largely tune the conductance of the molecular wires. Likewise, the extension of the electrode-molecule interactions not only defines the electrical response, electron transport mechanism or photonic features, but also the stability of the junctions, critical for the future applicability of single-molecule in electronics, sensors, energy storage and harvesting (needs encompassed in the Horizon Europe 2021-2027 agenda’s cluster #5: Climate, Energy & Mobility). On the other hand, the plasmonic trapping effects are extremely relevant for the molecular electronics field because achieving longer junction timescales implies the improvement of the molecular characterisation and acquired data. An optically promoted junction stabilization yields wider applicability since the increased capturing timescales are effective without the need for chemical modification of the target molecule and/or electrode. It clearly expands the horizons of molecular electronics’ fundamental research.
Both of my newly developed techniques are novel analytical instruments, but it is worth mentioning that beyond the fundamental research potential, the platform also holds immense potential in an economic framework. A spin-off company selling the tool, instrumentation service or derived technology (hardware and software) could be easily envisioned.
