We present a modular high-vacuum setup for the electrical characterization of single molecules down to liquid helium temperatures. The experimental design is based on microfabricated mechanically controllable break junctions, which offer control over the distance of two electrodes via the bending of a flexible substrate. The actuator part of the setup is divided into two stages. The slow stage is based on a differential screw drive with a large bending range. An amplified piezoceramic actuator forms the fast stage of the setup, which can operate at bending speeds of up to 800 μm/s. In our microfabricated break junctions this is translated into breaking speeds of several 10 nm/s, sufficient for the fast acquisition of large statistical datasets. The bandwidth of the measurement electronics has been optimized to enable fast dI/dV spectroscopy on molecular junctions with resistances up to 100 MΩ. The performance of the setup is demonstrated for a π-conjugated oligo(phenylene-ethynylene)-dithiol molecule.
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