Multi-terminal electron transport through single phenalenyl molecule: A theoretical study

We do parametric calculations to elucidate multi-terminal electron transport properties through a molecular system where a single phenalenyl molecule is attached to semi-infinite one-dimensional metallic leads. A formalism based on the Green's function technique is used for the calculations while the model is described by tight-binding Hamiltonian. We explore the transport properties in terms of conductance, reflection probability as well as current-voltage characteristic. The most significant feature we articulate is that all these characteristics are very sensitive to the locations where the leads are connected and also the molecule-to-lead coupling strengths. The presence of other leads also has a remarkable effect on these transport properties. We study these phenomena for two-, three-and four-terminal molecular systems. Our numerical study may be utilized in designing tailor-made molecular electronic devices. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.