We extend a model originally intended for the description of the scanning tunneling microscope (STM) current in molecular imaging of one‐dimensional systems, to encompass the more general process of electron transfer between two reservoirs of states. In the STM problem, the reservoirs are naturally associated with the metal density of states of the electrodes. In the molecular electron transfer problem, the identification of the reservoirs with the Franck–Condon weighted density of vibrational states allows a number of fruitful connections with the theory of nonadiabatic electron transfer (ET) in molecules to be established. In this article, we present an exact procedure, based on Löwdin’s partitioning technique, to determine the Green’s function and the T matrix, relevant to the transport process. We obtain compact expressions for the conductance and the density of states in the limit of small applied voltage and low temperature, and discuss the important case where the molecular wire is described by a tight‐binding Hamiltonian. Finally, we discuss some physical implications of the model.

We have studied the current vs voltage curves (I–V characteristics) of a mesoscopic device consisting of two electrodes and a molecular wire. The wire Hamiltonian includes both electronic tunneling and Coulomb repulsion within a Hubbard model that is treated at the Hartree–Fock level. The inclusion of electron repulsion is an extension of our previous work that only considered the case of noninteracting electrons. We have found several important features in the calculated characteristics of the wire. These include (1) a staircaselike structure that strongly resembles that associated with Coulomb blockade in heterostructures and quantum dots, but that in the case of the wire is associated with the discrete nature of the molecular resonances; (2) regions of negative differential resistance associated with increased localization of the molecular resonances. Our theoretical model includes a consistent treatment of the conduction in the linear and nonlinear regimes which remains valid even when the device is operated close to resonance. These results can be particularly relevant for a comparison with recent experiments on molecular wires.

To study the electronic transport of molecular wire circuits, we present a time-independent scattering formalism which includes an ab initio description of the molecular electronic structure. This allows us to obtain the molecule–metal coupling description at the same level of theory. The conductance of junction α, α′ xylyl dithiol and benzene-1,4-dithiol between gold electrodes is obtained and compared with available experimental data. The conductance depends dramatically on the relative position of the Fermi energy of the metal with respect to the molecular levels. We obtain an estimate for the injecting energy of the electron onto the molecule by varying the distance between the molecule and the attached gold clusters. Contrary to the standard assumption, we find that the injecting energy lies close to the molecular highest occupied molecular orbital, rather than in the middle of the gap; it is just the work function of the bulk metal. Finally, the adequacy of the widely used extended Hückel method for conductance calculations is discussed.