English

Phase-Coherent Charge Transport through a Porphyrin Nanoribbon

Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics 2023-07-11 v2 Chemical Physics

Abstract

Quantum interference in nano-electronic devices could lead to reduced-energy computing and efficient thermoelectric energy harvesting. When devices are shrunk down to the molecular level it is still unclear to what extent electron transmission is phase coherent, as molecules usually act as scattering centres, without the possibility of showing particle-wave duality. Here we show electron transmission remains phase coherent in molecular porphyrin nanoribbons, synthesized with perfectly defined geometry, connected to graphene electrodes. The device acts as a graphene Fabry-P\'erot interferometer, allowing direct probing of the transport mechanisms throughout several regimes, including the Kondo one. Electrostatic gating allows measurement of the molecular conductance in multiple molecular oxidation states, demonstrating a thousand-fold increase of the current by interference, and unravelling molecular and graphene transport pathways. These results demonstrate a platform for the use of interferometric effects in single-molecule junctions, opening up new avenues for studying quantum coherence in molecular electronic and spintronic devices.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2205.08499,
  title  = {Phase-Coherent Charge Transport through a Porphyrin Nanoribbon},
  author = {Zhixin Chen and Jie-Ren Deng and Songjun Hou and Xinya Bian and Jacob L. Swett and Qingqing Wu and Jonathan Baugh and G. Andrew D. Briggs and Jan A. Mol and Colin J. Lambert and Harry L. Anderson and James O. Thomas},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2205.08499},
  year   = {2023}
}

Comments

14 pages, 3 figures