Intermolecular Interactions in Molecular Tunnel Junctions: Significant and Still Compatible with the Picture of Single Molecule Junctions in Parallel.

Summary: Imagine tiny electrical wires made out of molecules. When scientists pack these molecules tightly together to make a connection, the molecules pull and bump into each other. This pulling is called "van der Waals" forces. For a long time, it was really hard to measure how these forces changed the way electricity flows through the wires. But now, researchers have found a new way to study them. They discovered that even though these molecules interact with each other a lot, they still work perfectly side-by-side to carry electricity!