Orbital Views of the Electron Transport in Molecular Devices

Extended π-conjugated molecules are interesting materials that have been studied theoretically and experimentally with applications to conducting nanowire, memory, and diode in mind. Chemical understanding of electron transport properties in molecular junctions, in which two electrodes have weak contact with a π-conjugated molecule, is presented in terms of the orbital concept. The phase and amplitude of the HOMO and LUMO of π-conjugated molecules determine essential properties of the electron transport in them. The derived rule allows us to predict single molecules’ essential transport properties, which significantly depend on the type of connection between a molecule and electrodes. Qualitative predictions based on frontier orbital analysis about the site-dependent electron transport in naphthalene, phenanthrene, and anthracene are compared with density functional theory calculations for the molecular junctions of their dithiolate derivatives, in which two gold electrodes have strong contact with a molecule through two Au−S bonds.