Giant switch-on and switch-off currents in device “electrode-molecule-electrode”

The transient current formation in a device “electrode-single molecule-electrode” is studied theoretically. It is demonstrated that a giant transient current is formed if the two transfer couplings of the molecule to the electrodes differ strongly and if the applied voltage is instantaneously switched on or off. This behavior is mainly caused by a recharge of the molecule due to nonequilibrium electron hopping processes from or into the electrodes.