Principles of Molecular Devices Operated by Electric Fields

This chapter outlines the main device platforms that are available for harnessing electric field-induced reactivity in a confined nanoscale gap. The chapter begins with an introduction that describes the general architecture of the available experimental platforms for the design of electrically driven molecular devices. It then discusses recent literature that demonstrate the interplay between the built-in local electric field in molecular systems (D-LEF) and the oriented external electric field (OEEF) of the device. The chapter concludes by describing a molecular device designed to specifically enhance molecular spectroscopy by utilizing OEEFs.