Charge transport and single-electron effects in nanoscale systems

In this review, we consider single-electron effects in transport through nanoscale devices. These effects are ubiquitous in quantum dot physics, but in recent years their occurrence in molecular transport has triggered important new research efforts. In this case, the experimental results show a rich variety of features which make it possible to extract a wealth of information about the physics of these structures. We shall show that most of this information can be extracted in the case where the coupling of the active region to the leads is weak. However, between the strong and weak coupling regimes, that is, at intermediate coupling, we can observe the richest behaviour. We shall very briefly outline the physics of different transport processes through three-terminal devices and then focus on the single-electron effects. (C) 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.