Molecular electronics

Molecular electronics studies and uses individual molecules or molecular assemblies as components that control electrical current in circuits.

Molecular junction: A nanoscale electrical contact in which one or more molecules connect two electrodes. It is the basic device geometry used to measure a molecule’s electrical behavior.
Scanning tunneling microscope: An instrument that images surfaces by measuring tunneling current between a sharp tip and a sample. Its tip can form a contact to a molecule and probe its conductance.
Molecular diode: A molecular junction designed to conduct more strongly in one bias direction than the other. Asymmetric molecular structures can produce rectification at the single-molecule scale.
Silicon-based electronics: Electronic technology built primarily from silicon semiconductor devices and integrated circuits. It is the mature manufacturing platform molecular electronics seeks to complement or surpass at smaller scales.
Single-molecule conductance: The electrical conductance measured across an individual molecule connected to electrodes. Repeated measurements often vary because junction structure and contact geometry fluctuate.
Electron tunneling: Quantum transport through a barrier that a classical particle could not cross. Electrons often cross short molecular junctions by tunneling.
Self-assembled monolayer: An ordered molecular layer that forms spontaneously on a surface through chemical adsorption. Such layers let many molecules bridge electrodes in reproducible test structures.
Molecular switch: A molecule whose structure or electronic state can be reversibly changed to alter its conductance. Switchable conductance offers a route to molecular-scale information storage and logic.
Organic electronics: Electronics based on carbon-rich semiconductors, often used in thin films and flexible devices. It commonly uses bulk molecular materials, while molecular electronics often targets individual molecules.
Break-junction technique: A method that repeatedly forms and breaks nanoscale electrode gaps to measure molecular junctions. It enables statistical conductance measurements but produces a distribution of junction configurations.

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