Figure 1.

(a) Schematic illustration of the break-junction experiment of the OPE-linked PC molecule trapped between nanoelectrodes (top panel), together with a presentation displaying, as springs, the combinations of mechanosensitive structures in the molecular design (bottom drawing in this panel). (b) Solid-state molecular structure determined by single-crystal X-ray analysis. (c) Possible behavior of the molecule under applied force: (I) elongation of the molecule under pulling force of the electrodes, (II) junction with the molecule in its relaxed configuration, and (III) compression results in a shortening of the overall junction length. The simulated conductance (in units of the conductance quantum G₀ = 2e²/h) as a function of the applied mechanical stress is displayed as the drawn line; the three cases (I–III) are indicated by the colored circles.