Nonlinear electron current through a short molecular wire

The voltage and the temperature behavior of inelastic interelectrode curren t mediated by a short molecular wire is analyzed within a nonlinear kinetic approach that accounts for strong Coulomb repulsion between transferring e lectrons. When the coupling to the heat bath occurs via high-frequency vibr ation modes we predict a generally nonlinear current-voltage characteristic s (an Ohmic behavior at small voltage, rising towards saturation and being followed by an abrupt decrease at large voltage) and a bell-shaped current response vs temperature at not too large temperatures.