Optical and mechanical control of electron transport through a single molecule Advances in molecular manipulation enable to statistically measure the conductance of a single molecule while controlling its geometrical conformation either by mechanical or optical means. The possibility to control the conductance of a single molecule by external stimulus is not only important for the fundamental understanding of their charge transport properties but also for the development of emerging technologies such as molecular electronic. This project aims at theoretically modeling the mechanism of charge propagation in single molecule in order to establish a clear correlation between the conformation of this molecule and its electronic conductance. During the course of the project, a combination of classical techniques and quantum chemical calculations will be used to model and understand charge transport mechanisms at the single molecule level. A celebrated example of non-classical effect arising in single molecule junction is the quantum interference effect that prevents the charge to cross the junction due to coherent phase cancellation between different conduction channels. This interference effect can be controlled by mechanical or optical manipulations of the molecular conformation to design single-molecule electronic devices. If you are interested, please contact: n.renaud@tudelft.nl

Fig 1: Example of optically activated single molecule electronic device connected to two gold electrodes. Optical signals are used to control the isomerization state of several photochromic groups that in return modify the overall electronic conduction of the molecule.