`Tight Binding' methods in quantum transport through molecules and small devices: From the coherent to the decoherent description

TL;DR

This paper reviews quantum transport in molecules and small devices, covering coherent and decoherent regimes, and introduces methods like decimation and Landauer formalism to analyze various transport phenomena.

Contribution

It integrates decimation techniques with Landauer formalism to comprehensively describe quantum transport regimes, including decoherence effects and time-dependent phenomena.

Findings

Decimation technique effectively describes electronic structure in transport.

Landauer formalism extended to include decoherence effects.

Analysis of mesoscopic, semiclassical, and resonant tunneling regimes.

Abstract

We discuss the steady-state electronic transport in solid-state and molecular devices in the quantum regime. The decimation technique allows a comprehensive description of the electronic structure. Such a method is used, in conjunction with the generalizations of Landauer's tunneling formalism, to describe a wide range of transport regimes. We analize mesoscopic and semiclassical metallic transport, the metal-insulator transition, and the resonant tunneling regime. The effects of decoherence on transport is discussed in terms of the D'Amato-Pastawski model. A brief presentation of the time dependent phenomena is also included.