Kailey Sun Marcus

Light-driven directional transport

Controlled charge transport is essential in both biological and electronic systems, enabling precise and directed information transfer. Inspired by biological mechanisms and the push for miniaturization, molecular wires provide a pathway for directional charge transport. This work introduces a novel molecular wire based on the redox-mediated catalytic isomerization of photogenerated Z-azobenzene, offering intrinsic unidirectional charge transfer without the need for donor-acceptor pairs or external biases. The system's hole-hopping cascade also exhibits a self-erasing property, which can function as an encryption mechanism for optoelectronic information storage. With potential applications in biohybrid systems and quantum chip design, this approach advances the study of electron transport in both biological and artificial settings.