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A brief history of molecular electronics

Nature Nanotechnology volume 8, pages 378–381 (2013)Cite this article

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The field of molecular electronics has been around for more than 40 years, but only recently have some fundamental problems been overcome. It is now time for researchers to move beyond simple descriptions of charge transport and explore the numerous intrinsic features of molecules.

The concept of electrons moving through single molecules comes in two different guises. The first is electron transfer, which involves a charge moving from one end of the molecule to the other1. The second, which is closely related but quite distinct, is molecular charge transport and involves current passing through a single molecule that is strung between electrodes2,3. The two are related because they both attempt to answer the same fundamental question: how do electrons move through molecules4,5?

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Figure 1: Measured conductance histogram of a pentanediol species using two different methods of analysis (green, blue).

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  1. Mark Ratner is in the Department of Chemistry, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60208, USA,

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Ratner, M. A brief history of molecular electronics. Nature Nanotech 8, 378–381 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nnano.2013.110

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