The project proposes the investigation of electromagnetic-field-induced conductance changes of atomic-size contacts, individual molecules contacted with atomically fine electrodes, molecular ensembles (1000 to 10000 molecules in parallel) contacted by the nanopore and the crossbar technique. The central subjects to be pursued over the next three years are aiming at (i) revealing the dominating mechanisms for fieldinduced conductance changes of metallic and molecular contacts by time-resolved and spatially resolved studies of photoconductance, (ii) the influence of optical antenna effects and surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) by variation of the electrode geometry and simulation studies, (iii) light-induced thermoelectric effects in atomic and molecular systems, and (iv) the study of the photo-conductance of molecular systems.
