Mechanical control of charge transport through nanostructures (C13)

• Subject Area: Theoretical Condensed Matter Physics
• Term: from 2013 to 2019
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 32152442

We study the influence of vibrational modes on the charge current and its fluctuations in atomic and molecular junc-tions with material-specific ab-initio techniques. Existing theoretical models are extended to include the coupling of the vibrations in the central scattering region to the surrounding electrodes to obtain a realistic description of current-induced heating. Applied to nonmagnetic systems in the first part, the techniques are generalized in the second part to treat noncollinearly magnetic nanostructures. We study the scattering between different transmission and spin channels due to vibrations and naturally take into account multiple electronic levels and vibrational modes. The externally ad-justable distance between the electrodes controls precisely electronic couplings and vibrational properties, while magnetic fields provide additional external means for manipulating junctions that contain magnetic atoms or molecules.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 767: Controlled Nanosystems: Interaction and Interfacing to the Macroscale
• Applicant Institution: Universität Konstanz
• Project Head: Professor Dr. Fabian Pauly