7 May 2009

New approach may pave the way for molecular electronics

Researchers at the Nano-Science Center have developed a new method to measure the individual molecules. The method can be used to construct electronic components based on individual molecules.

The new method, which is highlight in the journal ACS Nano, makes it easier for researchers to work with individual molecules because they can put a single molecule in between two gold rods.

Schematic representation of the fabrication of nanoelectronic systems

- It is not possible to identify a molecule through our microscopes and therefore it has been very difficult to work with them. With our new approach, where we have grown gold rods that hold the molecule, we have moved from working with elements of 1-2 nanometers to work on the micrometer length scale, and it allows us to work much more controlled and focused, says Kasper Moth-Poulsen, post doc at the Nano-Science Center.

The prospects of being able to make electronic components based on single molecules are large in the development of new drugs and molecular computers.

Link to the article in ACS Nano: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/nn900066w