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Molecular electronics

Probing intramolecular circuit laws

Nature Nanotechnology volume 7, pages 620–621 (2012)Cite this article

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Constructive quantum interference is verified experimentally in a parallel single-molecule circuit, potentially offering an intuitive approach to designing intramolecular circuits.

Kirchhoff's superposition law states that the total conductance of an electronic circuit in a parallel configuration is the sum of the conductance of the individual branches (that is, for the two-branch case, G = G1 + G2) (ref. 1). To construct complex electronic machines capable of calculating or recording data, engineers have based their designs on Kirchhoff's node and mesh electronic circuit laws for almost 100 years. However, to boost running speed, minimize energy consumption and increase portability, circuit miniaturization is now approaching the molecular and even the atomic scale. In the future, it would be expected that computers be constructed from functional atoms or chemical-group building blocks, except that at this scale the Kirchhoff classical superposition laws may no longer be valid, because electrons tunnelling through molecular circuits obey quantum physics laws, rather than statistical physics laws, an occurrence that was not entirely foreseen by the pioneers of molecule circuit design2,3. Now, reporting in Nature Nanotechnology, researchers from Brookhaven National Laboratories and Columbia University in the US probe the superposition law for a parallel two-branched molecular circuit and find experimental evidences of constructive quantum interference between the two possible paths4.

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Figure 1: Different quantum scenarios for intramolecular circuits.

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  1. Christian Joachim is in the GNS-PicoLab and MANA Satellite, CEMES-CNRS, 29, Rue J. Marvig, BP 94347 31055 Toulouse Cedex, France,

    Christian Joachim

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  1. Christian Joachim
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Correspondence to Christian Joachim.

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Joachim, C. Probing intramolecular circuit laws. Nature Nanotech 7, 620–621 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2012.172

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