Molecular Electronics

Abstract

Molecular Electronics can be broadly defined as the processing of electric, magnetic, or optic signals with molecule based devices. After the discovery of conducting polymers in the 70′s, the idea that molecules could be used to process signals was introduced by Aviram and Ratner (Aviram, 1974), who introduced the molecular rectifier concept, and later by the (late) F. L. Carter. From the beginming of the 80′s, in a series of fascinating multidisciplinar workshops (Carter, 1982, 1987, 1988), he launched definitively the concept of Molecular Electronic Devices (MED). Of course a number of ideas evoked there were (and still are) highly speculative. But this had the immense advantage to trigger an increasing activity in chemical synthesis. There are now several example of “Molecular Devices” emerging from the laboratories. Most of them are based on simple and often naive analogies with actual Electronic Devices. But their fundamental study will certainly be highly instructive and full of surprises. The question now is to try to foresee the behaviour of large assemblies of such devices. This problem could have strong relations with the concept of Granular Nanoelectronics and both approaches (one from the above, the other from the bottom) are destinated to meet somewhere.