Self-consistent theory of molecular switching

Abstract

We study the model of a molecular switch comprised of a molecule with a soft vibrational degree of freedom coupled to metallic leads. In the presence of strong electron-ion interaction, different charge states of the molecule correspond to substantially different ionic configurations, which can lead to very slow switching between energetically close configurations (Franck-Condon blockade). Application of transport voltage, however, can drive the molecule far out of thermal equilibrium and thus dramatically accelerate the switching. The tunneling electrons play the role of a heat bath with an effective temperature dependent on the applied transport voltage. Including the transport-induced "heating" selfconsistently, we determine the stationary current-voltage characteristics of the device, and the switching dynamics for symmetric and asymmetric devices. We also study the effects of an extra dissipative environment and demonstrate that it can lead to enhanced non-linearities in the transport properties of the device and dramatically suppress the switching dynamics.

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• Stochastic dynamics for a single vibrational mode in molecular junctions
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• From non-equilibrium Green's functions to quantum master equations for the density matrix and out-of-time-order correlators: steady state and adiabatic dynamics
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• Electro-Mechanical Transition in Quantum dots
• First-passage time theory of activated rate chemical processes in electronic molecular junctions
• Magnetic effects on nonlinear mechanical properties of a suspended carbon nanotube
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• Time-dependent quantum transport in a resonant tunnel junction coupled to a nanomechanical oscillator
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• Interplay of magneto-elastic and polaronic effects in electronic transport through suspended carbon-nanotube quantum dots
• Bistability of a slow mechanical oscillator coupled to a laser-driven two-level system
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• Interference and shot noise in a degenerate Anderson-Holstein model
• Quantum transport phenomena induced by time-dependent fields
• The effect of elastic disorder on single electron transport through a buckled nanotube
• On the role of local many-body interactions on the thermoelectric properties of fullerene junctions
• Mechanism of the Fano resonance in a planar metamaterials: Analysis from the coupled two-oscillator model
• Tunable anharmonicity in cavity optomechanics in the unresolved sideband regime
• Evidence for atomic-scale vibron-mediated electron bunching
• Shuttle-promoted nano-mechanical current switch