Regensburg 2016 – scientific programme

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DS: Fachverband Dünne Schichten

DS 49: Transport: Molecular Electronics and Photonics II
(Joint session of CPP, DS, HL, MA, O and TT, organized by TT)

DS 49.2: Talk

Thursday, March 10, 2016, 15:15–15:30, H23

Switching the conductance of a molecular junction by proton transfer — •Dominik Weckbecker, Pedro B. Coto, Chriszandro Hofmeister, and Michael Thoss — Institut für Theoretische Physik, Staudtstraße 7/B2, 91058 Erlangen, Germany

The idea of designing switches or diodes using single molecules has motivated intensive experimental and theoretical research on the conductance properties of these systems. In particular, it has been demonstrated that a molecular junction may be used as a nanoswitch if the molecular bridge has two stable states with different conductance that can be reversibly transformed into each other [1]. In this contribution, we explore the possibility of switching a molecular junction using a proton transfer reaction triggered by an external electrostatic field [2]. The study uses transport theory based on first-principles electronic structure calculations [2,3] and considers molecular junctions with graphene or gold as material for electrodes. We show that for the systems investigated, proton transfer can be used for the reversible interconversion between two states, which exhibit different degrees of delocalization of the π-electrons and therefore very different conductance.
S. J. van der Molen et al., J. Phys.: Cond. Mat. 22, 133001 (2010)
C. Hofmeister et al., J. Mol. Model. 20, 2163 (2014)
M. Brandbyge et al., PRB 65, 165401 (2002)