The 646 th meeting of the Sydney University Chemical Society will be held on Wednesday 5th August, 2009 in Le Fèvre Lecture Theatre 4 of the Chemistry Building on the campus of The University of Sydney. The speaker will be

Prof Abraham Nitzan

Molecular conduction and beyond

School of Chemistry & Director of The Mortimer and Raymond Sackler Institute of Advanced Studies
Tel Aviv University

In molecular conductance spectroscopy, the current through a molecule (or molecules) connecting two metal or semiconductors electrodes is measured as a function of the applied voltage. With eye on potential technological applications the main problems facing researchers in this field fall within the subjects of fabrication, characterization, stability, functionality and control.

This talk will review recent progress in understanding molecular conduction with particular emphasis on the role played by the molecular electronic structure and conformation, its coupling to the electrodes and its interaction with the underlying nuclear motion and the thermal environment. We will focus on relative timescales of different processes as a way to assess their importance in the overall conduction. Characterization, stability functionality and control will be discussed in the framework of recent studies on inelastic tunneling spectroscopy, heating and heat conduction in molecular junctions and optical response of such systems.

Wednesday 5th August, 2009 at 5:30pm

Le Fèvre Lecture Theatre 4

Refreshments from 5:00pm

Toby Hudson, Hon. Secretary
School of Chemistry
The University of Sydney
NSW 2006
Australia
Ph: +61 2 9356 7648
Fax: +61 2 9351 3329
Email: t.hudson@chem.usyd.edu.au