Home > News > A Molecule-Sized Light Switch
December 28th, 2010
A Molecule-Sized Light Switch
Abstract:
Electronic circuits built from single atoms and molecules will be the ultimate in miniaturization. These circuits will require molecular switches, and now a team reports in the 31 December Physical Review Letters that they have made one using the single chemical bond between a gold atom and an organic molecule. The team applied voltages to reversibly switch the complex between a bonded configuration that would carry a high current and a nonbonded, low-current configuration. Using two types of microscope, along with computer simulations, the researchers revealed with unprecedented detail the nanoscale dance involved in their switch, which they believe could be the basis for a practical electronic device.
Source:
aps.org
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