SINGLE-ELECTRON TUNNELING WITH LIQUID-CRYSTAL MOLECULES

This report examines single electron charging with a liquid crystal molecule as the central electrode in a double tunnel junction. The advantage of using liquid crystal molecules as the central electrodes of a double tunnel junction is that they form a nanostructure and the single electron charging energy associated with this structure takes on the order of 1 eV so that the phenomenon can be observed at room temperature. Also, energy levels become discrete and separation is larger than with electron correlation energy, so that the conventional Coulomb blockade is no longer applicable. Irradiating the molecule with IR light, allows observation of tunnel current suppression. We discuss here whether the IR source's intensity is sufficient to cause such a suppression effect.