Physics – Condensed Matter – Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
Scientific paper
2007-07-20
Physics
Condensed Matter
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics
25 pages, 8 figures. Journal of Computational and Theoretical Nanoscience, in press
Scientific paper
Current experimental and theoretical studies on the effect of intermolecular interactions on molecular conduction appear to be in conflict with each other. In particular, some experimental results, e.g., the observation of 2-dimensional free-particle character for interface bound electrons indicate strong intermolecular interactions while other observations indicate an additive character of conduction properties. In this paper we use a generic tight binding model with a physically motivated choice of parameters in order to examine this issue. The model encompasses direct intermolecular interactions as well as through-metal interactions and can be solved exactly to yield spectral properties (surface density of states) and transport characteristics (transmission coefficients and current-voltage behaviors) for single molecule junctions, molecular islands and molecular layers. We find linear scaling of conduction properties with the number of conducting molecules in junctions characterized by molecular layers when the probe (STM tip) addresses different numbers of molecules; however, the conduction per molecule can differ significantly from that of an isolated single molecule. When a junction involves finite molecular islands of varying sizes, linear scaling sets in only beyond a certain molecular island size, of the order of a few tens of molecules. Implications for current observation of linear scaling behaviors are discussed.
Kronik Leeor
Landau Alexander
Nitzan Abraham
No associations
LandOfFree
Cooperative effects in molecular conduction does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Cooperative effects in molecular conduction, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Cooperative effects in molecular conduction will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-398790