Molecular scale electronics: syntheses and testing

Abstract

Abstract. This paper describes four significant breakthroughs in the syntheses and testing of molecular scale electronic devices. The 16-mer of oligo(2-dodecylphenylene ethynylene) was prepared on Merrifields resin using the iterative divergent/convergent approach which significantly streamlines the preparation of this molecular scale wire. The formation of self-assembled monolayers and multilayers on gold surfaces of rigid rod conjugated oligomers that have thiol, ;!-dithiol, thioacetyl, or ;!-dithioacetyl end groups have been studied. The direct observation of charge transport through molecules of benzene-1, 4-dithiol, which have been self-assembled onto two facing gold electrodes, has been achieved. Finally, we report initial studies into what effect varying the molecular alligator clip has on the molecule scale wire’s conductivity. Future computational systems are likely to consist of logic devices that are ultra dense, ultra fast, and molecular-sized [1–3]. The slow step in existing computational architectures is not usually the switching time, but the