Progress Toward the Development of a Single Molecule Transistor with Graphene Electrodes

Single molecule transistors are useful for studying both the charge and spin states of molecules. These devices consist of a nanogap with three contacts for the source, drain, and gate. Current versions use metallic contacts for the source and drain, which remain essentially three dimensional. It is thought that graphene contacts for the source and drain, which would he atomically tlat, would enable the observation of more molecular charge states due to reduced screening between the sample and the contacts. This thesis presents the progress made in the development of graphene single molecule transistors during the 2006-2007 academic year. Additionally, this thesis will introduce a new method for the large-scale production of graphene samples