Investigation of the Conducting Properties of a Photoswitching Dithienylethene Molecule

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• 作者：Anders Odell ; Anna Delin ; Börje Johansson ; Ivan Rungger ; Stefano Sanvito
• 刊名：ACS Nano
• 出版年：2010
• 出版时间：May 25, 2010
• 年：2010
• 卷：4
• 期：5
• 页码：2635-2642
• 全文大小：437K
• 年卷期：0
• ISSN：1936-086X

文摘

Photoswitching molecules are attractive candidates as organic materials for optoelectronics applications because light impulses can switch them between states with different conducting characteristics. Here, we report a fully self-consistent density functional theory calculation of the electron transport properties of photoswitching dithienylethene attached to Au leads in both the open and closed conformations. The molecule is found to be a good conductor in both conformations, with the low-bias current for the closed one being about 20 times larger than that of the open. Importantly, the current−voltage characteristics away from the linear response are largely determined by molecular orbital rehybridization in an electric field, in close analogy to what happens for Mn₁₂ molecules. However, in the case of dithienylethene attached to Au, such a mechanism is effective also in conditions of strong electronic coupling to the electrodes. This makes the dithienylethene family an intriguing materials platform for constructing highly conducting organic optoelectronics switches.