Novel Quantum Interference Effects in Transport through Molecular Radicals

We investigate electronic transport through molecular radicals and predict a correlation-induced transmission node arising from destructive interference between transport contributions from different charge states of the molecule. This quantum interference effect has no single-particle analog and cannot be described by effective single-particle theories. Large errors in the thermoelectric properties and nonlinear current–voltage response of molecular radical junctions are introduced when the complementary wave and particle aspects of the electron are not properly treated. A method to accurately calculate the low-energy transport through a radical-based junction using an Anderson model is given.