Possibility of designing molecular Wheatstone bridge: Electrostatic and conformational

Abstract

This work focused on design a novel combinational molecular device that mimics a Wheatstone bridge consisting of four single benzene molecules and a molecular wire that connects the upper arm with the lower arm together, this system is attached to two electrodes. All transport properties were investigated by using steady-state theoretical model of two different mechanisms in molecular switches, both electrostatic and conformational mechanisms. The results in the electrostatic mechanism show the operations can be controlled by a gating and magnetic flux, while the results in the conformational mechanism can be adjusted by torsion angle. The transmission probability and the electric current are calculated as output signals of the molecular Wheatstone bridge.