The next application of molecular electronics will most likely be for computer memory.
Using surface science concepts like self assembly to align such molecules in a well-defined geometry at solid surfaces, new functional properties may arise, which are relevant for different fields like, e.g., molecular electronics, sensing or biocompatible interfaces.
Researchers in molecular electronics hope that one day molecules like these may form the backbone of electronic devices.
Molecular electronics has been associated with high density nano-electronic devices.
The company maintains several research centers in the region including research in the areas like soft computing employing fuzzy logic, nano-organics, molecular electronics, optoelectronics and micromachining.
Dr. James C. Ellenbogen, the principal investigator of the nanoelectronic computers project at the Mitre Corporation in McLean, Va., and a pioneer in molecular electronics, called the work "one of the key missing ingredients" in efforts to build molecular electronic devices.
Understanding electron transport through a single molecule is a basic goal in molecular electronics [1].
The ability to direct the positioning of nanowires is likely to add steam to the already fast moving field of molecular electronics, says Bao. "It's the future direction the [molecular electronics] field will take".
"We really have a period of momentous development in molecular-scale electronics," said Dr. James C. Ellenbogen, a pioneer in molecular electronics.
Molecular Electronics is not the first company to try to commercialize the new technology.
