Negative differential resistance induced by the Jahn–Teller effect in single molecular coulomb blockade devices

Using valence bond theory in combination with a master equation technique, we have investigated the electron transport properties of benzene-based coulomb blockade devices. The results show that the benzene molecule undergoes a Jahn–Teller distortion when ionized, which lifts the state degeneracy. The lifted degenerate states couple differently to the left and right electrodes, leading to negative differential resistance. This type of negative differential resistance involves the Jahn–Teller effect and symmetry-breaking, which provides a way to design coulomb blockade devices with negative differential resistance behavior.