Imagine molecular gears that oscillate against each other as they are stimulated by the addition or removal of a single electron, 1 or a domino-like arrangement of molecules in which a small perturbation on one end initiates a molecular-mechanical cascade that ripples through the whole assembly in a predetermined fashion. 2 Imagine a wire in which the presence or absence of a single atom dominates the electrical conductivity, 3 or in which a biomolecular recognition process is used to open up new conductivity pathways. 4 These descriptions are respectively those of a molecular-mechanical switch that forms the basis of a random access memory circuit, a molecular-based three-input mechanical Boolean sorter, a single-molecule electrically or magnetically gated switch, and a single-stranded DNA wire that is “turned on” by hybridization of the DNA into the double-stranded form. These molecular systems, and a host of other equally diverse chemical species, are principal...
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1 May 2003
May 01 2003
Molecular Electronics
Improvements in our understanding of how molecules transport charge, and how they interface to the macroscopic world, are fueling new devices and applications.
Physics Today 56 (5), 43–49 (2003);