Joachim C, Gimzewski J K, Aviram A
Centre d'Elaboration de Matériaux et d'Etudes Structurales-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Toulouse, France.
Nature. 2000 Nov 30;408(6812):541-8. doi: 10.1038/35046000.
The semiconductor industry has seen a remarkable miniaturization trend, driven by many scientific and technological innovations. But if this trend is to continue, and provide ever faster and cheaper computers, the size of microelectronic circuit components will soon need to reach the scale of atoms or molecules--a goal that will require conceptually new device structures. The idea that a few molecules, or even a single molecule, could be embedded between electrodes and perform the basic functions of digital electronics--rectification, amplification and storage--was first put forward in the mid-1970s. The concept is now realized for individual components, but the economic fabrication of complete circuits at the molecular level remains challenging because of the difficulty of connecting molecules to one another. A possible solution to this problem is 'mono-molecular' electronics, in which a single molecule will integrate the elementary functions and interconnections required for computation.
在诸多科技创新的推动下，半导体行业呈现出显著的小型化趋势。但要使这一趋势持续下去，并提供速度更快、价格更便宜的计算机，微电子电路元件的尺寸很快就需要达到原子或分子的尺度——这一目标将需要概念全新的器件结构。早在20世纪70年代中期就有人提出，少数分子甚至单个分子可以嵌入电极之间，并执行数字电子学的基本功能——整流、放大和存储。现在，这一概念已在单个元件上得以实现，但由于分子之间连接困难，在分子水平上经济地制造完整电路仍然具有挑战性。解决这一问题的一个可能办法是“单分子”电子学，即单个分子将集成计算所需的基本功能和互连。
