We will discuss several proposed explanations for the switching and negative differential resistance behavior seen in some molecular junctions. It is shown that a proposed polaron model is successful in predicting both hysteresis and NDR behavior, and the model is elaborated with image charge effects and parameters from electronic structure calculations. This model includes the effects of conformational change, charging, and image charge stabilization.

Sina Yeganeh is a graduate student working with Professor Mark Ratner at Northwestern University's Center for Nanofabrication and Molecular Self-Assembly. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from the California Institute of Technology in 2004. His research at Northwestern is supported by a National Defense Science and Engineering fellowship and is focused on the dynamics of charge transport in molecular junctions.

M. Galperin, M. A. Ratner, A. Nitzan, Nano Lett. 2005, 5, 125.

S. Yeganeh, M. Galperin, M. A. Ratner, J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 13313.

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

• Sina Yeganeh; Misha Galperin; Mark A. Ratner (2007), "MCW07 Modeling Charging-based Switching in Molecular Transport Junctions," https://nanohub.org/resources/3076.

1. ab initio
2. computational chemistry
3. devices
4. molecular electronics
5. nanoelectronics
6. nanowires
7. NEGF
8. quantum transport
9. research seminar