Electric-field control of interfering transport pathways in a single-molecule anthraquinone transistor

TL;DR

This study demonstrates how an electric field can modulate charge transport in a single-molecule device by altering molecular conjugation, leading to significant conductance changes through interference effects.

Contribution

It introduces a method to control quantum interference in a single-molecule transistor using electric-field induced reduction of conjugation.

Findings

Ten-fold increase in off-resonant differential conductance

Electric-field induced reduction alters conjugation and interference

Theoretical calculations confirm the link between reduction and conductance change

Abstract

It is understood that molecular conjugation plays an important role in charge transport through single-molecule junctions. Here, we investigate electron transport through an anthraquinone based single-molecule three-terminal device. With the use of an electric-field induced by a gate electrode, the molecule is reduced resulting into a ten-fold increase in the off-resonant differential conductance. Theoretical calculations link the change in differential conductance to a reduction-induced change in conjugation, thereby lifting destructive interference of transport pathways.