Inelastic effects in the Coulomb blockade and Kondo regimes of electron transport through molecular junctions are considered within a simple nonequilibrium equation-of-motion (EOM) approach. The scheme is self-consistent and can qualitatively reproduce the main experimental observations of vibrational features in the Coulomb blockade [H. Park et al., Nature (London) 407, 57 (2000)] and Kondo [L. H. Yu et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 266802 (2004)] regimes. Considerations similar to the equilibrium EOM approach by Meir et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 66, 3048 (1991); 70, 2601 (1993)] are used on the Keldysh contour to account for the nonequilibrium nature of the junction, and dressing by appropriate Franck-Condon factors is used to account for vibrational features. Results of the equilibrium EOM scheme by Meir et al. are reproduced in the appropriate limit.

• Received 20 February 2007

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevB.76.035301