Experimental results showing huge negative differential conductance in gold-hydrogen molecular nanojunctions are presented. The results are analyzed in terms of two-level system (TLS) models: it is shown that a simple TLS model cannot produce peaklike structures in the differential conductance curves, whereas an asymmetrically coupled TLS model gives perfect fit to the data. Our analysis implies that the excitation of a bound molecule to a large number of energetically similar loosely bound states is responsible for the peaklike structures. Recent experimental studies showing related features are discussed within the framework of our model.
Transport through a single molecular conductor is considered, showing negative differential conductance behavior associated with phonon-mediated electron tunneling processes. This theoretical work is motivated by a recent experiment by Leroy et al. using a carbon nanotube contacted by an STM tip [Nature {bf 432}, 371 (2004)], where negative differential conductance of the breathing mode phonon side peaks could be observed. A peculiarity of this system is that the tunneling couplings which inject electrons and those which collect them on the substrate are highly asymmetrical. A quantum dot model is used, coupling a single electronic level to a local phonon, forming polaron levels. A half-shuttle mechanism is also introduced. A quantum kinetic formulation allows to derive rate equations. Assuming asymmetric tunneling rates, and in the absence of the half-shuttle coupling, negative differential conductance is obtained for a wide range of parameters. A detailed explanation of this phenomenon is provided, showing that NDC is maximal for intermediate electron-phonon coupling. In addition, in absence of a gate, the floating level results in two distinct lengths for the current plateaus, related to the capacitive couplings at the two junctions. It is shown that the half-shuttle mechanism tends to reinforce the negative differential regions, but it cannot trigger this behavior on its own.
The chemical stability of graphene and other free-standing two-dimensional crystals means that they can be stacked in different combinations to produce a new class of functional materials, designed for specific device applications. Here we report resonant tunnelling of Dirac fermions through a boron nitride barrier, a few atomic layers thick, sandwiched between two graphene electrodes. The resonant peak in the device characteristics occurs when the electronic spectra of the two electrodes are aligned. The resulting negative differential conductance persists up to room temperature and is gate voltage-tuneable due to graphenes unique Dirac-like spectrum. Whereas conventional resonant tunnelling devices comprising a quantum well sandwiched between two tunnel barriers are tens of nanometres thick, the tunnelling carriers in our devices cross only a few atomic layers, offering the prospect of ultra-fast transit times. This feature, combined with the multi-valued form of the device characteristics, has potential for applications in high-frequency and logic devices.
Results of an experimental study of palladium nanojunctions in hydrogen environment are presented. Two new hydrogen-related atomic configurations are found, which have a conductances of ~0.5 and ~1 quantum unit (2e^2/h). Phonon spectrum measurements demonstrate that these configurations are situated between electrodes containing dissolved hydrogen. The crucial differences compared to the previously studied Pt-H_2 junctions, and the possible microscopic realizations of the new configurations in palladium-hydrogen atomic-sized contacts are discussed.
Experimental results for sequential transport through a lateral quantum dot in the regime of spin blockade induced by spin dependent tunneling are compared with theoretical results obtained by solving a master equation for independent electrons. Orbital and spin effects in electron tunneling in the presence of a perpendicular magnetic field are identified and discussed in terms of the Fock-Darwin spectrum with spin. In the nonlinear regime, a regular pattern of negative differential conductances is observed. Electrical asymmetries in tunnel rates and capacitances must be introduced in order to account for the experimental findings. Fast relaxation of the excited states in the quantum dot have to be assumed, in order to explain the absence of certain structures in the transport spectra.
We report a bi-polar multiple periodic negative differential conductance (NDC) effect on a single cage-shaped Ru nanoparticle measured using scanning tunneling spectroscopy. This phenomenon is assigned to the unique multiply-connected cage architecture providing two (or more) defined routes for charge flow through the cage. This, in turn, promotes a self- gating effect, where electron charging of one route affects charge transport along a neighboring channel, yielding a series of periodic NDC peaks. This picture is established and analyzed here by a theoretical model.