91 research outputs found
Image effects in transport at metal-molecule interfaces
We present a method for incorporating image-charge effects into the
description of charge transport through molecular devices. A simple model
allows us to calculate the adjustment of the transport levels, due to the
polarization of the electrodes as charge is added to and removed from the
molecule. For this, we use the charge distributions of the molecule between two
metal electrodes in several charge states, rather than in gas phase, as
obtained from a density-functional theory-based transport code. This enables us
to efficiently model level shifts and gap renormalization caused by
image-charge effects, which are essential for understanding molecular transport
experiments. We apply the method to benzene di-amine molecules and compare our
results with the standard approach based on gas phase charges. Finally, we give
a detailed account of the application of our approach to porphyrin-derivative
devices recently studied experimentally by Perrin et al. [Nat. Nanotechnol. 8,
282 (2013)], which demonstrates the importance of accounting for image-charge
effects when modeling transport through molecular junctions
Evidence for LineLike Vortex Liquid Phase in TlBaCaCuO Probed by the Josephson Plasma Resonance
We measured the Josephson plasma resonance (JPR) in optimally doped
TlBaCaCuO thin films using terahertz time-domain
spectroscopy in transmission. The temperature and magnetic field dependence of
the JPR frequency shows that the c-axis correlations of pancake vortices remain
intact at the transition from the vortex solid to the liquid phase. In this
respect TlBaCaCuO films, withanisotropy parameter
, are similar to the less anisotropic
YBaCuO rather than to the most
anisotropic BiSrCaCuO single crystals ).Comment: Submitted to Physical Review Letter
Transverse optical Josephson plasmons, equations of motion
A detailed calculation is presented of the dielectric function in
superconducttors consisting of two Josephson coupled superconducting layers per
unit cell, taking into account the effect of finite compressibility of the
electron fluid. From the model it follows, that two longitudinal, and one
transverse optical Josephson plasma resonance exist in these materials, for
electric field polarization perpendicular to the planes. The latter mode
appears as a resonance in the transverse dielectric function, and it couples
directly to the electrical field vector of infrared radiation. A shift of all
plasma frequencies, and a reduction of the intensity of the transverse optical
Josephson plasmon is shown to result from the finite compressibility of the
electron fluid.Comment: 17 pages, ReVTeX, 7 figures in eps forma
Large tunable image-charge effects in single-molecule junctions
The characteristics of molecular electronic devices are critically determined
by metal-organic interfaces, which influence the arrangement of the orbital
levels that participate in charge transport. Studies on self-assembled
monolayers (SAMs) show (molecule-dependent) level shifts as well as
transport-gap renormalization, suggesting that polarization effects in the
metal substrate play a key role in the level alignment with respect to the
metal's Fermi energy. Here, we provide direct evidence for an electrode-induced
gap renormalization in single-molecule junctions. We study charge transport in
single porphyrin-type molecules using electrically gateable break junctions. In
this set-up, the position of the occupied and unoccupied levels can be followed
in situ and with simultaneous mechanical control. When increasing the electrode
separation, we observe a substantial increase in the transport gap with level
shifts as high as several hundreds of meV for displacements of a few \aa
ngstroms. Analysis of this large and tunable gap renormalization with
image-charge calculations based on atomic charges obtained from density
functional theory confirms and clarifies the dominant role of image-charge
effects in single-molecule junctions
Unravelling the conductance path through single-porphyrin junctions
Porphyrin derivatives are key components in natural machinery enabling us to store sunlight as chemical energy. In spite of their prominent role in cascades separating electrical charges and their potential as sensitizers in molecular devices, reports concerning their electronic transport characteristics are inconsistent. Here we report a systematic investigation of electronic transport paths through single porphyrin junctions. The transport through seven structurally related porphyrin derivatives was repeatedly measured in an automatized mechanically controlled break-junction set-up and the recorded data were analyzed by an unsupervised clustering algorithm. The correlation between the appearances of similar clusters in particular sub-sets of the porphyrins with a common structural motif allowed us to assign the corresponding current path. The small series of model porphyrins allowed us to identify and distinguish three different electronic paths covering more than four orders of magnitude in conductance
Field Dependence of the Josephson Plasma Resonance in Layered Superconductors with Alternating Junctions
The Josephson plasma resonance in layered superconductors with alternating
critical current densities is investigated in a low perpendicular magnetic
field. In the vortex solid phase the current densities and the squared bare
plasma frequencies decrease linearly with the magnetic field. Taking into
account the coupling due to charge fluctuations on the layers, we extract from
recent optical data for SmLa_{1-x} Sr_x CuO_{4-delta} the Josephson penetration
length lambda_{ab} approximately 1100 A parallel to the layers at T=10 K.Comment: 5 pages, 6 eps-figures, final version with minor misprints correcte
Interlayer pair tunneling and gap anisotropy in YBaCuO
Recent ARPES measurement observed a large -axis gap anisotropy,
, in clean YBaCuO. This
indicates that some sub-dominant component may exist in the -wave
dominant gap. We propose that the interlayer pairing tunneling contribution can
be determined through the investigation of the order parameter anisotropy.
Their potentially observable features in transport and spin dynamics are also
studied.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Observation of the Transverse Optical Plasmon in SmLa0.8Sr0.2CuO4-d
We present microwave and infrared measurements on SmLa0.8Sr0.2CuO4-d, which
are direct evidence for the existence of a transverse optical plasma mode,
observed as a peak in the c-axis optical conductivity. This mode appears as a
consequence of the existence of two different intrinsic Josephson couplings
between the CuO2 layers, one with a Sm2O2 block layer, and the other one with a
(La,Sr)O block layer. From the frequencies and the intensities of the
collective modes we determine the value of the compressibility of the two
dimensional electron fluid in the copper oxygen planes.Comment: REVTeX, 4 pages, 5 eps-figures, PRL, in pres
- …