Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Molecular electronics

Chemistry of molecules or physics of contacts?

Computing with molecules as building blocks for circuits is an exciting concept. To make it a reality, we need to understand all effects: both within the molecule and at the interfaces between molecule and contacts.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: No more false contacts.
Figure 2: Quantum-mechanical tunnelling of an electron depends on the shape of the energy barrier separating two contacts.

References

  1. Service, R. F. Science 302, 556–559 (2003).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. He, J. et al. Nature. Mater. 5, 63–68 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Ball, P. Nature 406, 118–120 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Joachim, C. et al. Nature 408, 541–548 (2000).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. French, A. P. & Taylor, E. F. An Introduction to Quantum Physics (W. W. Norton, New York, 1978).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Zhirnov, V., Cavin, R. Chemistry of molecules or physics of contacts?. Nature Mater 5, 11–12 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1554

Download citation

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat1554

This article is cited by

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing