Coherent charge transport through molecular wires: influence of strong Coulomb repulsion

TL;DR

This paper develops a master equation approach to analyze electron transport in molecular wires under strong Coulomb repulsion, revealing ohmic behavior in open channels and exponential decay in bridged wires, highlighting the effects of electron interactions.

Contribution

It introduces a master equation framework specifically for strong Coulomb interactions in molecular wires, providing new insights into transport mechanisms.

Findings

Current shows ohmic behavior in open channels.

Current decays exponentially with wire length in bridged systems.

Differences from non-interacting electron transport are discussed.

Abstract

We derive a master equation for the electron transport through molecular wires in the limit of strong Coulomb repulsion. This approach is applied to two typical situations: First, we study transport through an open conduction channel for which we find that the current exhibits an ohmic-like behaviour. Second, we explore the transport properties of a bridged molecular wire, where the current decays exponentially as a function of the wire length. For both situations, we discuss the differences to the case of non-interacting electrons.