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Molecular scale electronics, also called single-molecule electronics, is a branch of nanotechnology that uses single molecules, or nanoscale collections of single molecules, as electronic components. Because single molecules constitute the smallest stable structures imaginable[citation needed], this miniaturization is the ultimate goal for shrinking electrical circuits.
The field is often termed simply as "molecular electronics", but this term is also used to refer to the distantly related field of conductive polymers and organic electronics, which uses the properties of molecules to affect the bulk properties of a material. A nomenclature distinction has been suggested so that molecular materials for electronics refers to this latter field of bulk applications, while molecular scale electronics refers to the nanoscale single-molecule applications treated here.[1][2]
- ^ Petty, M.C.; Bryce, M.R. & Bloor, D. (1995). Introduction to Molecular Electronics. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 1–25. ISBN 978-0-19-521156-6.
- ^ Tour, James M.; et al. (1998). "Recent advances in molecular scale electronics". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 852 (1): 197–204. Bibcode:1998NYASA.852..197T. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.506.4411. doi:10.1111/j.1749-6632.1998.tb09873.x. S2CID 18011089.