Single-electron tunneling spectroscopy of single C60 in double-barrier tunnel junction -: art. no. 064709

The single-electron tunneling (SET) spectroscopy of C-60 molecule in a double-barrier tunnel junction is investigated by combining the scanning tunneling spectroscopy experiment and the theoretical simulation using the modified orthodox theory. The interplay between the SET effect and the discrete energy levels of C-60 molecule is studied. Three types of SET spectroscopies with different characters are obtained, corresponding to different tunneling processes and consistent with the previous theoretical prediction. Both the charging mode and resonance mode can arouse the current increase in the SET spectroscopy. The resonance mode is realized mainly by two mechanisms, including the resonance when the electron spans the second junction after already spanning the first junction. Some previous confused results have been clarified. Our results show that three types of SET spectroscopies can be together examined to quantitatively determine the frontier orbitals of the nanostructure by identifying the modes of various current increases. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.