Heat currents in a two channel Marcus molecular junction

TL;DR

This paper theoretically investigates heat transport in a two-channel molecular junction with strong electron-phonon interactions, revealing phenomena like negative differential heat conductance and molecular cooling.

Contribution

It introduces a model for heat transport in a two-channel Marcus molecular junction considering strong electron-phonon interactions and analyzes effects of a driven molecular level.

Findings

Negative differential heat conductance observed.

Molecular cooling through transport channel competition.

Impact of a driven molecular level on heat and power.

Abstract

We present a theoretical analysis of heat transport through a single-molecule junction with two possible transport channels for electrons where interactions between electrons on the molecule and phonons in the nuclear environment is strong and Marcus-type processes predominate in the electron transport. We show that within the steady state regime the competition between transport channels may result in negative differential heat conductance and cooling of the molecule environment. Also, we analyze the effect of a slowly driven molecule level (provided that another level is fixed) on the heat transport and power generated in the system.