Image charge effects in nanoscale junctions with strong electron-phonon coupling open the way to unexplored physical scenarios. We propose a simple and still accurate many-body approach to deal with the simultaneous occurrence of the Franck-Condon blockade and the screening-induced enhancement of the polaron mobility. A transparent analytic expression for the polaron decay rate is derived and the dependence on the strength and range of the screening is highlighted. This allows us to interpret and explain several transient and steady-state features of the electrical current. Remarkably, we find that the competition between the charge blocking due to the electron-phonon interaction and the charge deblocking due to the image charges gives rise to a novel mechanism of negative differential conductance. An experimental setup to observe this phenomenon is discussed.

• Received 25 July 2013
• Revised 6 December 2013

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.88.245437