Optical angular momentum induced molecular switching

Molecular electronics is a promising route for downscaling electronic devices since organic molecules can play a role in reconfigurable logic operations. The organic molecule can also strongly interact with optical fields provided that the fields are highly concentrated, for instance by the presence of plasmonic nanostructures. Simultaneously, the plasmonic nanostructures have been demonstrated recently the ability to produce localized angular momentum (LAM), which could further be coupled to a molecular device. By optically transferring angular momentum to a molecular junction, we demonstrate different logic operations. These molecular-scale operations result from the interaction of conducting molecular junction and the plasmonically enhanced electromagnetic field near the tip of the junction. Importantly, this novel investigation of the LAM in the near-field opens the door for characterization of molecular electronics with near-field optical methods.