Quantum Transport in Metalporphyrins. An ab initio Green's function approach to nanosensors design

Abstract

An ab initio Green's function study of the electron transport properties of the selected metal-porphyrin complexes has been performed. Transmission spectra and current-voltage dependence have been calculated for the porphyrin molecule located between gold electrodes in the presence of interaction with metal atoms, which are most common in biochemistry (Fe(II), Fe(III), Mn(II), and Zn(II)). It was shown that the estimated Fermi level almost coincides with the LUMO level of Fe(II)-porphyrin and Fe(III)-porphyrin, resulting in significant conductance at small voltage biases. Conductance of Mn(II)-porphyrin and Zn(II)-porphyrin are much lower, and decrease from Mn to Zn. It was confirmed that performing spin-unrestricted calculations is essential to account splitting of the original molecular orbitals levels. Preformed calculations demonstrate the principal possibility of experimental realization of porphyrin based nanosensors.