Quantum Interference Driven Electron Transport through Fano-Anderson Systems

TL;DR

This study explores how quantum interference and electron interactions influence electron transport in Fano-Anderson systems, revealing mechanisms like resonant tunneling, antiresonance, and negative differential resistance relevant for molecular electronics.

Contribution

It uncovers the impact of interference patterns and electron correlations on transport properties in FA systems, highlighting the emergence of NDR due to interactions.

Findings

Odd and even side-groups show distinct interference effects.

Resonant tunneling peaks observed in even systems.

Negative differential resistance appears in odd systems with interactions.

Abstract

We investigate the electronic transport behavior of Fano-Anderson (FA) systems, consisting of a one-dimensional finite backbone chain and an attached side-group of varying length. The tight-binding model within the non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF) reveals distinct interference patterns between the frontier orbitals of odd and even side-group systems that lead to distinct transport mechanisms across various configurations. The even side-group systems exhibit resonant tunneling peaks, while the odd ones demonstrate significant destructive interference at Fermi energy leading to antiresonance and reduced current responses. Further exploration of the role of electron-electron interactions within mean-field Hubbard Hamiltonian indicates the emergence of negative differential resistance (NDR) in odd side-group systems at lower biases, a phenomenon absent in the non-interacting case. Our study demonstrates the critical role of quantum interferences among the frontier molecular orbitals and electron correlations in shaping the transport behavior of FA systems, providing insights for the design of molecular-scale electronic devices.