In September, TU Delft made news for breaking new ground in molecular electronics research. A research team from the university designed a single molecule that can be used as a building block in nanometre-sized circuits.
“This is the first time that such a device has been realized on the smallest imaginable scale, thus providing an interesting option within the continuing down-scaling of electronic components by the conventional industry,” reads a report about the findings.
The team was headed by Professor Herre van der Zant of TU Delft and includes faculty members, Post-Doctoral researchers and PhD candidates. The research was done in collaboration with Groningen University and the FOM Foundation and received financial support from the foundation, the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the European FP7-framework programme.
Explaining the functionality of the design, Prof. Van Der Zant says, “In general, a single molecule can perform electronic functions used in the current semiconductor industry such as diodes or transistors. The special feature of the molecules is that the functionality is condensed in the molecule itself, the smallest scale imaginable; in semiconducting components one typically uses a combination of different materials and complex designs to achieve this.”
To produce the molecule, gold wires are broken. Once broken, they form the electrodes between which the molecule is positioned. The electrodes can be separated with picometer control, allowing for mechanical control of the molecular properties. They also adapted home-made low-noise electronics to measure very small currents through the molecule.
The project started three years ago and TU’s departments involved include Quantum Nanoscience and Chemical Engineering. “Their contribution is on the experiments and the theoretical interpretation. In addition, chemists from Groningen contributed with the synthesis and design of the molecules,” adds Van Der Zant.
In terms of application, whether in a phone or a future computing device, it is early days yet to see how it can be adapted. “At the moment, our single-molecule device is not faster or cheaper. The main advantage is its small size, in the order of nanometres. The importance of the work is that it shows a new concept to make resonant tunnelling devices. The future will tell whether this technology will find its way to commercial use.”
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