Pair tunneling through single molecules

By a polaronic energy shift, the effective charging energy of molecules can become negative, favoring ground states with even numbers of electrons. Here we show that charge transport through such molecules near ground-state degeneracies is dominated by tunneling of electron pairs which coexists with (featureless) single-electron cotunneling. Because of the restricted phase space for pair tunneling, the current-voltage characteristics exhibit striking differences from the conventional Coulomb blockade. In asymmetric junctions, pair tunneling can be used for gate-controlled current rectification and switching.