Revealing molecule-internal mechanisms to control phonon heat transport through single-molecule junctions by a genetic algorithm

Measurements of the thermal conductance of single-molecule junctions have recently been reported for the first time. It is presently unclear, how much the heat transport can be controlled through molecule-internal effects. The search for molecules with lowest and highest thermal conductance is complicated by the gigantic chemical space. Here, we describe a systematic search for molecules with a low or a high phononic thermal conductance using a genetic algorithm. In this way, we overcome time-consuming, inefficient trial-and-error cycles in molecular design. Beyond individual structures of well performing molecules, delivered by the genetic algorithm, we analyze patterns and identify the different physical and chemical mechanisms to suppress or enhance phonon heat flow. The identified mechanisms are systematically analyzed at different levels of theory, and their significance is classified. Our findings are expected to be important for the emerging field of molecular phononics.