Jerome Cornil1
University of Mons1
In this contribution, we will review some of our recent theoretical works focusing on the electronic properties of switchable molecular junctions. We will describe photoswitches sandwiched between gold or ferromagnetic electrodes in close connection with corresponding experimental data and will illustrate that the design of functional molecules can be strongly hampered by pinning and/or collective electrostatic effects in the junction; a new chemical design will be introduced to enhance the on/off ratio in diarylethene-based molecular junctions. Finally, we will report calculations of magnetoresistance for junctions in the field of molecular spintronics.