Robust ultrafast currents in molecular wires through Stark shifts

Abstract

A novel way to induce ultrafast currents in molecular wires using two incident laser frequencies, $\omega$ and $2\omega$, is demonstrated. The mechanism relies on Stark shifts, instead of photon absorption, to transfer population to the excited states and exploits the temporal profile of the field to generate phase controllable transport. Calculations in a \emph{trans}-polyacetylene oligomer coupled to metallic leads indicate that the mechanism is highly efficient and robust to ultrafast electronic dephasing processes induced by vibronic couplings.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, accepted to Physical Review Letter