Invited talk
Time-dependent phenomena in single molecule junctions: Coherent electron pumps, transient currents and the directional photo-electric effect
Schulich Faculty of Chemistry and the Lise Meitner Center for Computational Quantum Chemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 32000, Israel
The study of charge and energy transport in single molecule junctions out of equilibrium introduces unique theoretical and experimental challenges. In the talk, theoretical studies of field-driven molecular junctions are presented which suggest new manifestations of unique single molecule properties in macroscopic observables. Having a molecule as the 'bottle neck' for charge and energy transport, the characteristic length and time scales suggest that coherent dynamics dominates the transport properties, and therefore the transport can be coherently controlled. In particular we shall focus on 'electron pumps' which convert radiation field into directed electronic currents. The principle of operation and the experimental manifestations will be analyzed theoretically under conditions ranging from a sudden pulse to cw excitation, and from direct excitation of the molecule to excitation through the leads plasmons. The latter suggest the existence of a single molecule-based directional photo-electric effect.