Charge Transport Across Single Molecules at the Metal-Superconductor Interface

The understanding of electron transport through single atoms or molecules is important for the progress in realizing molecular electronics. Including a superconducting electrode in such junctions is particularly appealing because of the nondissipative character of the charge flow and the associated opportunity of conceiving low-loss electronic circuits. Moreover, low-energy excitations that are visible in the highly resolved spectroscopy of the current contain valuable information on electron pairing and pair breaking interactions. This Perspective discusses the appealing physics underlying the current flow across single atoms and molecules anchored to normal-metal and superconducting electrodes, unveils open questions, and suggests prospective experiments.