Early View e202511115
Research Article

Electro-responsive Tri-state Switch in Supramolecular Circuits

Min Tan

Min Tan

College of Optical and Electronic Technology, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, 310018 China

Institute of Modern Optics and Center of Single-Molecule Science, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Micro-scale Optical Information Science and Technology, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350 China

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Xueyan Zhao

Xueyan Zhao

Institute of Modern Optics and Center of Single-Molecule Science, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Micro-scale Optical Information Science and Technology, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350 China

School of Physics and Electronic Engineering, Northeast Petroleum University, Daqing, 163318 China

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Zhibin Zhao

Zhibin Zhao

Institute of Modern Optics and Center of Single-Molecule Science, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Micro-scale Optical Information Science and Technology, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350 China

Institute of Physics, Henan Engineering Research Center of Photoelectric Measurement, Henan Academy of Sciences, Zhengzhou, 450046 China

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Adila Adijiang

Adila Adijiang

Institute of Modern Optics and Center of Single-Molecule Science, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Micro-scale Optical Information Science and Technology, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350 China

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Haibo Shu

Haibo Shu

College of Optical and Electronic Technology, China Jiliang University, Hangzhou, 310018 China

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Lichuan Chen

Corresponding Author

Lichuan Chen

Institute of Modern Optics and Center of Single-Molecule Science, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Micro-scale Optical Information Science and Technology, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350 China

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected], [email protected]

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Zhiqiang Fan

Corresponding Author

Zhiqiang Fan

School of Physics and Electronic Science, Changsha University of Science and Technology, Changsha, 410114 China

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected], [email protected]

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Dong Xiang

Corresponding Author

Dong Xiang

Institute of Modern Optics and Center of Single-Molecule Science, Tianjin Key Laboratory of Micro-scale Optical Information Science and Technology, Nankai University, Tianjin, 300350 China

E-mail: [email protected]; [email protected], [email protected]

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First published: 22 July 2025

Graphical Abstract

TOC: First demonstration of an electroresponsive multistable switch in a supramolecular circuit showing three distinct conductance states under bias voltages without chemical additives, enabling richer logic encoding, achieving an exceptional switching ratio of approximately 1.25×103 (one of the highest reported to date), and revealing the mechanism for the formation of molecular trimer junctions promoted by the applied electrical field.

Abstract

Efficiently manipulating charge transport at the molecular level is critical to developing multifunctional and responsive molecular electronic devices. Here, we report the first electroresponsive tristate switch in a supramolecular circuit, overcoming the binary limitation and enabling richer logic encoding, governed solely by a bias voltage (electric field). At low electric fields, p-phenylenediamine (PPD) molecules exhibit a high-conductance state, which transitions successively to two distinct low-conductance states as the external electric field strength increases. This precise control of supramolecular junctions through electric field manipulation achieved an on/off ratio GH/GL of ∼1.25×103, which is one of the largest values reported to date. Flicker noise analysis and density functional theory calculations reveal the intrinsic mechanism for the observation, i.e., electric field promoting the formation of trimer supramolecular junctions leads to the striking on/off ratio. These findings provide new insights into the design of molecular circuits with tunable conductance, paving a way for the design of molecular computation, memory devices, and sensors.

Conflict of Interests

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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