Transport properties of ruthenophanes – A theoretical insight

In this article, the electron transport properties of a series of ruthenophanes, 1–4, containing electron-donor and electron-acceptor substituents are studied. The electronic transmission at zero bias is mainly driven by only one eigenchannel. The substitutions constrain the energies in which the probability of electronic transmission is significant. The results suggest that the conductance at zero bias is dependent on the nature of the employed substituent. The eigenchannel wave functions show that the central molecules are preferentially coupled with right electrode. The calculated molecular projected self-consistent hamiltonian states also suggest that there is a dependence of the conductance at zero bias with the nature of the employed substituent. The current–voltage analyses suggest that the negative differential resistance effect is present in ruthenophanes, but it is dependent on both the nature of the substituent and the bias. Despite the moderate rectification ratio of the ruthenophanes, they present non-ohmic behaviour, indicating that they can be used as potential candidates in electronic molecular devices such as switches, oscillators, and frequency multipliers.