Phonon Driven Nonlinear Electrical Behavior in Molecular Devices

TL;DR

This paper presents a theoretical analysis of nonlinear electrical behavior in molecular devices influenced by phonons, highlighting quantum effects and polaronic interactions that shape current-voltage characteristics.

Contribution

It introduces a method to accurately approximate the quantum state of electron-phonon coupled systems across energy scales, revealing new nonlinear transport phenomena.

Findings

Nonlinear current-voltage characteristics due to phonon interactions

Quantum corrections significantly affect transport behavior

Polaronic effects reduce effective device-lead coupling

Abstract

Electronic transport in a model molecular device coupled to local phonon modes is theoretically analyzed. The method allows for obtaining an accurate approximation of the system's quantum state irrespective of the electron and phonon energy scales. Nonlinear electrical features emerge from the calculated current-voltage characteristics. The quantum corrections with respect to the adiabatic limit characterize the transport scenario, and the polaronic reduction of the effective device-lead coupling plays a fundamental role in the unusual electrical features.