Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 13, 2026

Writing and Low-Temperature Characterization of Oxide Nanostructures
Published on: July 18, 2014
Low-temperature electronic transport through macromolecules and characteristics of intramolecular electron transfer
1Department of Physics and Electronics, University of Puerto Rico-Humacao, Puerto Rico. n_zimbovskaya@webmail.uprh.edu
Abstract:
Long-distance electron transfer (ET) plays an important part in many biological processes. Also, fundamental understanding of ET processes could give grounds for designing miniaturized electronic devices. So far, experimental data on the ET mostly concern ET rates which characterize ET processes as a whole. Here, we develop a different approach which could provide more information about intrinsic characteristics of the long-range intramolecular ET. A starting point of the studies is an obvious resemblance between ET processes and electric transport through molecular wires placed between metallic contacts. Accordingly, the theory of electronic transport through molecular wires is applied to analyze characteristics of a long-range electron transfer through molecular bridges. Assuming a coherent electron tunneling to be a predominant mechanism of ET at low temperatures, it is shown that low-temperature current-voltage characteristics could exhibit a special structure, and the latter contains information concerning intrinsic features of the intramolecular ET. Using the Buttiker dephasing model within the scattering matrix formalism, we analyze the effect of dephasing on the electron transmission function and current-voltage curves.
Related Concept Videos
Intermolecular vs Intramolecular Forces
The Molecular Nature of Internal Energy
Types of Semiconductors
Theory of Metallic Conduction
In this theory, Newton's second law of motion is used to determine the acceleration of an electron in the presence of an applied electric field. Then, its velocity is expressed via this acceleration.
An electron moves through the crystal, containing positive ions,...
Phase Transitions: Melting and Freezing
Electrochemical Systems

