Molecular-Scale Electronics: From Concept to Function
Top Cited Papers
- 16 March 2016
- journal article
- review article
- Published by American Chemical Society (ACS) in Chemical Reviews
- Vol. 116 (7), 4318-4440
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemrev.5b00680
Abstract
Creating functional electrical circuits using individual or ensemble molecules, often termed as "molecular-scale electronics", not only meets the increasing technical demands of the miniaturization of traditional Si-based electronic devices, but also provides an ideal window of exploring the intrinsic properties of materials at the molecular level. This Review covers the major advances with the most general applicability and emphasizes new insights into the development of efficient platform methodologies for building reliable molecular electronic devices with desired functionalities through the combination of programmed bottom-up self-assembly and sophisticated top-down device fabrication. First, we summarize a number of different approaches of forming molecular-scale junctions and discuss various experimental techniques for examining these nanoscale circuits in details. We then give a full introduction of characterization techniques and theoretical simulations for molecular electronics. Third, we highlight the major contributions and new concepts of integrating molecular functionalities into electrical circuits. Finally, we provide a critical discussion of limitations and main challenges that still exist for the development of molecular electronics. These analyses should be valuable for deeply understanding charge transport through molecular junctions, the device fabrication process, and the roadmap for future practical molecular electronics.Keywords
Funding Information
- Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China (2012CB921404)
- National Research Foundation of Korea (2012026372)
- National Natural Science Foundation of China (21225311, 21373014, 61571242, 91333102)
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