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The bonding and electrostatic properties of gold containing molecules are highly influenced by relativistic effects. To understand this facet on bonding, a series of simple diatomic AuX (X=F, Cl, O and S) molecules, where upon bond formation the Au atom donates or accepts electrons, was investigated and discussed in this

The bonding and electrostatic properties of gold containing molecules are highly influenced by relativistic effects. To understand this facet on bonding, a series of simple diatomic AuX (X=F, Cl, O and S) molecules, where upon bond formation the Au atom donates or accepts electrons, was investigated and discussed in this thesis.

First, the optical field-free, Stark, and Zeeman spectroscopic studies have been performed on AuF and AuCl. The simple polar bonds between Au and typical halogens (i.e. F and Cl) can be well characterized by the electronic structure studies and the permanent electric dipole moments, el. The spectroscopic parameters have been precisely determined for the [17.7]1, [17.8]0+ and X1+ states of AuF, and the [17.07]1, [17.20]0+ and X1+ states of AuCl. The el have been determined for ground and excited states of AuF and AuCl. The results from the hyperfine analysis and Stark measurement support the assignments that the [17.7]1 and [17.8]0+ states of AuF are the components of a 3 state. Similarly, the analysis demonstrated the [19.07]1 and [19.20]0+ states are the components of the 3 state of AuCl.

Second, my study focused on AuO and AuS because the bonding between gold and sulfur/oxygen is a key component to numerous established and emerging technologies that have applications as far ranging as medical imaging, catalysis, electronics, and material science. The high-resolution spectra were record and analyzed to obtain the geometric and electronic structural data for the ground and excited states. The electric dipole moment, el, and the magnetic dipole moment, m, has been the precisely measured by applying external static electric and magnetic fields. el andm are used to give insight into the unusual complex bonding in these molecules.

In addition to direct studies on the gold-containing molecules, other studies of related molecules are included here as well. These works contain the pure rotation measurement of PtC, the hyperfine and Stark spectroscopic studies of PtF, and the Stark and Zeeman spectroscopic studies of MgH and MgD.

Finally, a perspective discussion and conclusion will summarize the results of AuF, AuCl, AuO, and AuS from this work (bond lengths, dipole moment, etc.). The highly quantitative information derived from this work is the foundation of a chemical description of matter and essential for kinetic energy manipulation via Stark and Zeeman interactions. This data set also establishes a synergism with computation chemists who are developing new methodologies for treating relativistic effects and electron correlation.
ContributorsZhang, Ruohan (Author) / Steimle, Timothy C. (Thesis advisor) / Williams, Peter (Committee member) / Richert, Ranko (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
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Description
We studied the relationship between the polarizability and the molecular conductance

that arises in the response of a molecule to an external electric field. To illustrate

the plausibility of the idea, we used Simmons' tunneling model, which describes image

charge and dielectric effects on electron transport through a barrier. In such a

model, the

We studied the relationship between the polarizability and the molecular conductance

that arises in the response of a molecule to an external electric field. To illustrate

the plausibility of the idea, we used Simmons' tunneling model, which describes image

charge and dielectric effects on electron transport through a barrier. In such a

model, the barrier height depends on the dielectric constant of the electrode-molecule-electrode junction, which in turn can be approximately expressed in terms of the

molecular polarizability via the classical Clausius-Mossotti relation. In addition to

using the tunneling model, the validity of the relationships between the molecular

polarizability and the molecular conductance was tested by comparing calculated

and experimentally measured conductance of different chemical structures ranging

from covalent bonded to non-covalent bonded systems. We found that either using

the tunneling model or the first-principle calculated quantities or experimental data,

the conductance decreases as the molecular polarizability increases. In contrast to

this strong correlation, our results showed that in some cases there was a weaker or

none correlation between the conductance and other molecular electronic properties

including HOMO-LUMO gap, chemical geometries, and interactions energies. All

these results together suggest that using the molecular polarizability as a molecular

descriptor for conductance can offer some advantages compared to using other

molecular electronic properties and can give additional insight about the electronic

transport property of a junction.

These results also show the validity of the physically intuitive picture that to a first

approximation a molecule in a junction behaves as a dielectric that is polarized in the

opposite sense of the applied bias, thereby creating an interfacial barrier that hampers

tunneling. The use of the polarizability as a descriptor of molecular conductance offers

signicant conceptual and practical advantages over a picture based in molecular

orbitals. Despite the simplicity of our model, it sheds light on a hitherto neglected

connection between molecular polarizability and conductance and paves the way for

further conceptual and theoretical developments.

The results of this work was sent to two publications. One of them was accepted

in the International Journal of Nanotechnology (IJNT) and the other is still under

review in the Journal of Physical Chemistry C.
ContributorsVatan Meidanshahi, Reza (Author) / Mujica, Vladimiro (Thesis advisor) / Chizmeshya, Andrew (Committee member) / Richert, Ranko (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014