| Jul 12, 2018 |
The future of electronics is chemical(Nanowerk News) We can’t cram any more processing power into silicon-based computer chips. |
| But a paper published in Nature ("Metallic nanoparticle contacts for high-yield, ambient-stable molecular-monolayer devices") reveals how we can make electronic devices 10 times smaller, and use molecules to build electronic circuits instead. |
| We’re reaching the limits of what we can do with conventional silicon semiconductors. In order for electronic components to continue getting smaller we need a new approach. |
| Molecular electronics, which aims to use molecules to build electronic devices, could be the answer. |
| But until now, scientists haven’t been able to make a stable device platform for these molecules to sit inside which could reliably connect with the molecules, exploit their ability to respond to a current, and be easily mass-produced. |
| An international team of researchers, including Macquarie University’s Associate Professor Koushik Venkatesan, have developed a proof of concept device which they say addresses all these issues. |
| The team exploited the fact that metallic nanoparticles can provide reliable electrical contacts to individual molecules, allowing them to transport charge through a circuit. |
| Their next goal will be to test the platform with different molecules that have different functions to see if they can make it work. |
| If successful, their technique could lead to molecular compounds being integrated into solid-state devices that could be scaled down to the size of a single molecule. |
| “Imagine a miniaturised transistor made up of several single molecules,” says Koushik. |
| “That’s the promise of molecular electronics—devices that are smaller, faster, have more memory and are cheaper to make.” |
| Koushik is confident their research will open up the bottleneck for this molecular-based technology to move forward. |
| “Molecular electronics hasn’t previously lived up to expectations, but we’ve seen a renaissance of the field in the last five to six years,” he says. |
| “The device platform is the missing link. We hope work like ours will accelerate this type of technology. |
| “The electronic buildings blocks of the future will be molecules.” |
| “This fundamental research is extremely exciting as it points the way to practically ‘wiring molecules’ by exploiting the fact that Koushik and his colleagues have made a metallic nanoparticle provide a reliable electrical contact to individual molecules,” says Professor Alison Rodger, Head of the Department of Molecular Sciences at Macquarie University. |
| “As a molecular scientist it illustrates to me the importance of understanding the design and function of molecules for the future realisation of a molecular electronics technology. |
| “It is amazing to think that this work leads the way to true molecular-sized electronic circuits.” |
| Source: Macquarie University |
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