Transport Studies of Isolated Molecular Wires in Self-Assembled Monolayer Devices

We have fabricated a variety of novel molecular diodes based on self-assembled-monolayers (SAM) of solid-state mixture of molecular wires (1,4 benzene-dimethane-thiol), and molecular insulator spacers (1-pentanethiol) with different concentration ratios r of wires/spacers, which were sandwiched between two gold (Au) electrodes. We introduce two new methods borrowed from Surface Science to (i) confirm the connectivity between the benzene-dimethane-thiol molecules with the upper Au electrode, and (ii) count the number of isolated molecular wires in the devices. The electrical transport properties of the SAM diodes were studied at different temperatures via the conductance and differential conductance spectra. We found that a potential barrier caused by the spatial connectivity gap between the pentanethiol molecules and the upper Au electrode dominates the transport properties of the pure pentanethiol SAM diode (r = 0). The transport properties of molecular diodes with low r-values are dominated by the conductance of the isolated benzene-dimethane-thiol molecules in the device. We found that the temperature dependence of the molecular diodes is much weaker than that of the pure pentanethiol device indicating the importance of the benzene-dimethane-thiol simultaneous bonding to the two Au electrodes that facilitate electrical transport. From the differential conductance spectra we also found that the energy difference, Delta between the Au electrode Fermi-level and the benzene-dimethane-thiol HOMO (or LUMO) level is ~1.5 eV; whereas it is ~2.5 eV for the pentanethiol molecule. The weak temperature dependent transport that we obtained for the SSM diodes reflects the weak temperature dependence of Delta.Comment: 38 p 8 Fi

Kazakhstan and Tarim microcontinents on the Devonian paleotectonic reconstructions

Devonian latitudes of the Kazakhstan and Tarim microcontinents obtained from paleomagnetic data. Definition based on the results of the study pre-folded high-temperature components of magnetization of rocks. The article uses the results of paleomagnetic studies of Devonian sedimentary and magmatic rocks, which formed on the continental crust. In these studies, conducted by various researchers, the high-temperature pre folded primary component of magnetization detected in Devonian rocks on 19 plots. Based on that data the latitude of 24.6 ± 5.5° determined for the Center of Kazakhstan microcontinent in the Early-Middle Devonian and 22.7 ± 4.6° in the Late Devonian. The Early-Middle Devonian latitude 6.1 ± 4.2° determined for the Сenter of the Tarim microcontinent. A significant number of paleotectonic schemes of Asia with different design and detail were proposed. We reviewed the position of the Kazakhstan and Tarim microcontinents in 19 paleo-tectonic reconstructions published after 2000. There are three groups of paleoreconstructions among them. On many reconstructions, the location of continental terranes and island arcs of Kazakhstan and Central Asia in the Early and Middle Paleozoic resembles the modern structure of the Indonesian region. On other reconstructions, these terranes form an arc that connected two paleocontinents in the Paleozoic - the Baltic and the Siberian ones. In the alternative design of reconstructions, the terranes have a relatively isolated position in the Paleoocean. As a result, а way of for co-ordination of matching paleotectonic reconstructions with paleomagnetic data is proposed

СИСТЕМЫ РАЗЛОМОВ В ВЕРХНЕЙ КОРЕ ФЕННОСКАНДИНАВСКОГО ЩИТА ВОСТОЧНО-ЕВРОПЕЙСКОЙ ПЛАТФОРМЫ

Directions of 683 faults located in the southeastern part of the Fennoscandian (Baltic) shield were statistically analyzed, and three orthogonal associations of fault systems were identified in the study area. According to the dynamic analysis of the fault systems and their associations, the main NW-striking faults belong to the fault network originating mainly from the early Paleoproterozoic. These faults functioned in the Paleoproterozoic during four main deformation stages: D1 – sinistral shear transtension and asymmetric rift genesis (2.1–1.9 Ga); D2 – sinistral shear transpression under oblique accretion and convergence (1.9 Ga); D3 – sinistral shear transpression under oblique collision (1.89–1.80 Ga); D4 – dextral strike-slip displacements at the background of complex escape tectonics of the late collision stage (1.80–1.78 Ga). The regional stress field changed as follows: D1 – northeast- or east-trending extension; D2 – northeast compression; D3 – sub-latitudinal compression; D4 – sub-meridian compression. Changes in dynamic loading conditions led to multiple kinematic inversions of the fault networks. Widespread transtension and transpression settings in the southeastern parts of the Baltic Shield give evidence of asymmetric rifting, oblique accretion and collision in the Paleoproterozoic, which must be taken in to account in geodynamic reconstructions.Статистический анализ направлений 683 разломов юго-восточной части Фенноскандинавского (Балтийского) щита позволил выделить три ортогональные ассоциации систем дизъюнктивных нарушений. Динамический анализ систем разломов и их ассоциаций показал, что главные структурообразующие разломы территории, имеющие северо-западное простирание, принадлежат сети разломов, которая была создана преимущественно в раннем палеопротерозое. В палеопротерозое они функционировали на протяжении четырех главных этапов деформаций: D1 – левосдвиговая транстенсия и асимметричный рифтогенез (2.2–1.9 млрд лет), D2 – левосдвиговая транспрессия в обстановке косой аккреции и конвергенции (1.9 млрд лет), D3 – левосдвиговая транспрессия в условиях косой коллизии (1.89–1.80 млрд лет), D4 – правый сдвиг на фоне сложной коллажной тектоники позднеколлизионного этапа (1.80–1.78 млрд лет). Региональное поле напряжений в процессе эволюции нарушений менялось следующим образом: D1 – растяжение в северо-восточном (или ВСВ) направлении, D2 – сжатие в северо-восточном направлении, D3 – сжатие в субширотном направлении, D4 – сжатие в субмеридиональном направлении. Изменения динамических условий нагрузки обусловили многократную кинематическую инверсию сети разрывных нарушений. Широкое распространение обстановок транстенсии и транспрессии на юго-востоке Балтийского щита свидетельствует о проявлении асимметричного рифтинга, косой аккреции и коллизии в палеопротерозое, что необходимо учитывать при геодинамических реконструкциях

Tajik Basin: A composite record of sedimentary basin evolution in response to tectonics in the Pamir

Investigation of a >6‐km‐thick succession of Cretaceous to Cenozoic sedimentary rocks in the Tajik Basin reveals that this depocentre consists of three stacked basin systems that are interpreted to reflect different mechanisms of subsidence associated with tectonics in the Pamir Mountains: a Lower to mid‐Cretaceous succession, an Upper Cretaceous–Lower Eocene succession and an Eocene–Neogene succession. The Lower to mid‐Cretaceous succession consists of fluvial deposits that were primarily derived from the Triassic Karakul–Mazar subduction–accretion complex in the northern Pamir. This succession is characterized by a convex‐up (accelerating) subsidence curve, thickens towards the Pamir and is interpreted as a retroarc foreland basin system associated with northward subduction of Tethyan oceanic lithosphere. The Upper Cretaceous to early Eocene succession consists of fine‐grained, marginal marine and sabkha deposits. The succession is characterized by a concave‐up subsidence curve. Regionally extensive limestone beds in the succession are consistent with late stage thermal relaxation and relative sea‐level rise following lithospheric extension, potentially in response to Tethyan slab rollback/foundering. The Upper Cretaceous–early Eocene succession is capped by a middle Eocene to early Oligocene (ca. 50–30 Ma) disconformity, which is interpreted to record the passage of a flexural forebulge. The disconformity is represented by a depositional hiatus, which is 10–30 Myr younger than estimates for the initiation of India–Asia collision and overlaps in age with the start of prograde metamorphism recorded in the Pamir gneiss domes. Overlying the disconformity, a >4‐km‐thick upper Eocene–Neogene succession displays a classic, coarsening upward unroofing sequence characterized by accelerating subsidence, which is interpreted as a retro‐foreland basin associated with crustal thickening of the Pamir during India–Asia collision. Thus, the Tajik Basin provides an example of a long‐lived composite basin in a retrowedge position that displays a sensitivity to plate margin processes. Subsidence, sediment accumulation and basin‐forming mechanisms are influenced by subduction dynamics, including periods of slab‐shallowing and retreat

FAULT SYSTEMS IN THE UPPER CRUST OF THE FENNOSCANDIAN SHIELD, THE EAST EUROPEAN PLATFORM

Directions of 683 faults located in the southeastern part of the Fennoscandian (Baltic) shield were statistically analyzed, and three orthogonal associations of fault systems were identified in the study area. According to the dynamic analysis of the fault systems and their associations, the main NW-striking faults belong to the fault network originating mainly from the early Paleoproterozoic. These faults functioned in the Paleoproterozoic during four main deformation stages: D1 – sinistral shear transtension and asymmetric rift genesis (2.1–1.9 Ga); D2 – sinistral shear transpression under oblique accretion and convergence (1.9 Ga); D3 – sinistral shear transpression under oblique collision (1.89–1.80 Ga); D4 – dextral strike-slip displacements at the background of complex escape tectonics of the late collision stage (1.80–1.78 Ga). The regional stress field changed as follows: D1 – northeast- or east-trending extension; D2 – northeast compression; D3 – sub-latitudinal compression; D4 – sub-meridian compression. Changes in dynamic loading conditions led to multiple kinematic inversions of the fault networks. Widespread transtension and transpression settings in the southeastern parts of the Baltic Shield give evidence of asymmetric rifting, oblique accretion and collision in the Paleoproterozoic, which must be taken in to account in geodynamic reconstructions