A molecular quantum switch based on tunneling in meta-d-phenol C6H4DOH

Abstract

We introduce the concept of a molecular quantum switch and demonstrate it with the example of meta-D-phenol, based on recent theoretical and high-resolution spectroscopic results for this molecule. We show that in the regime of tunneling switching with localized low-energy states and delocalized high-energy states the molecular quantum switch can be operated in two different ways: (i) a quasiclassical switching by coherent infrared radiation between the two isomeric structures syn- and anti-m-D-phenol; and (ii) a highly nonclassical switching making use of bistructural quantum superposition states of the syn and anti structures, which can be observed by their time-dependent spectra after preparation.