Vibrational assisted conduction in a molecular wire

TL;DR

This paper investigates how vibrational modes in a molecular wire can significantly enhance electrical conduction and enable transistor-like switching behavior through electro-mechanical coupling and external driving.

Contribution

It introduces a detailed model showing vibrational assistance in conduction and demonstrates transistor-like switching driven by vibrational mode excitation.

Findings

Vibrational coupling enhances lead-to-lead conduction.

External driving of vibrations enables sharp switching behavior.

The device can function as a vibrationally controlled molecular transistor.

Abstract

We present a detailed study of the conduction properties of a molecular wire where hopping processes between electronic sites are coupled to a vibrational mode of the molecule. The latter is sandwiched between two electronic leads at finite temperatures. We show that the electro-mechanical coupling can lead to a strong enhancement of the lead-to-lead conduction. Moreover, under suitable driving of the molecular vibrational mode, the device can act as a transistor passing sharply from enhanced conduction to short-circuit configuration.