TY - JOUR
T1 - Activated Conduction in Microscopic Molecular Junctions
AU - Segal, Dvira
AU - Nitzan, Abraham
AU - Ratner, Mark
AU - Davis, William B.
PY - 2000/4/6
Y1 - 2000/4/6
N2 - We analyze the connection between the electron transfer (ET) rate through a given molecular bridge, and the conduction of a junction based on the same bridge between two metals. The Landauer relation between the conduction of a junction and its transmission properties is generalized to yield a relation between conduction and ET rate, including transfer processes dominated by thermal activation. The relation between the orders of magnitude of these observables involves an additional length parameter, of the order of the range of the donor wave function. We find that the functional dependence of these observables on the bridge length (N) and on the temperature (T) changes from the exponential and temperature independent, exp(-βN) for small N, to algebraic and thermally activated form, (α1 + α2N)-1 exp(-ΔE/kBT), as N increases. An intermediate range of apparent independence on N exists if α1 ≫ α2. This behavior is the analogue to the quantum Kramers (barrier crossing) problem, analyzed with respect to the barrier length.
AB - We analyze the connection between the electron transfer (ET) rate through a given molecular bridge, and the conduction of a junction based on the same bridge between two metals. The Landauer relation between the conduction of a junction and its transmission properties is generalized to yield a relation between conduction and ET rate, including transfer processes dominated by thermal activation. The relation between the orders of magnitude of these observables involves an additional length parameter, of the order of the range of the donor wave function. We find that the functional dependence of these observables on the bridge length (N) and on the temperature (T) changes from the exponential and temperature independent, exp(-βN) for small N, to algebraic and thermally activated form, (α1 + α2N)-1 exp(-ΔE/kBT), as N increases. An intermediate range of apparent independence on N exists if α1 ≫ α2. This behavior is the analogue to the quantum Kramers (barrier crossing) problem, analyzed with respect to the barrier length.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0001195381&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/jp994296a
DO - 10.1021/jp994296a
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AN - SCOPUS:0001195381
SN - 1520-6106
VL - 104
SP - 2790
EP - 2793
JO - Journal of Physical Chemistry B
JF - Journal of Physical Chemistry B
IS - 13
ER -