Electronic transport properties of a dithienylethene-based polymer with different metallic contacts

Abstract

We have studied the electronic transport behaviors of a dithienylethene-based polymer between two metal surfaces using nonequilibrium Green's functions combined with density functional theory. The present computational results show that the polymer with closed and open configurations really demonstrates switching behavior which confirms the experimental observation. It is also found that the switching behavior depends on the electronic properties of two configurations of polymer instead of the contact modes. The on–off ratios of conductance between the closed and open configurations reach up to two orders of magnitude. Negative differential resistance and rectification phenomena are also observed in such systems.