An unusual class of molecules could revolutionise the electronics industry
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Re: An unusual class of molecules could revolutionise the electronics industry
#2I'm not entirely sure if I understand – What electrical component could these be used to replace? Could they be used to build single molecule wires, or something like single molecule NAND gates, etc?
Re: An unusual class of molecules could revolutionise the electronics industry
#3I'm not entirely sure if I understand – What electrical component could these be used to replace? Could they be used to build single molecule wires, or something like single molecule NAND gates, etc?
My lay-brain imagines that a wire of the same "length" could hold much more power that would flow with much less resistance.
Re: An unusual class of molecules could revolutionise the electronics industry
#4I'm not entirely sure if I understand – What electrical component could these be used to replace? Could they be used to build single molecule wires, or something like single molecule NAND gates, etc?
The title of the paper is "Helical orbitals and circular currents in linear carbon wires"...
... but they do refer to them as "promising candidates for novel applications" which indicates actual applications are a little way off.
Incidentally, although it's easy to write these molecules in text (like C=C=C=C=C=C...) that does not really show the helical orbitals.
https://pubs.rsc.org/en/content/articlehtml/2019/sc/c8sc0546...
Re: An unusual class of molecules could revolutionise the electronics industry
#5I'm not entirely sure if I understand – What electrical component could these be used to replace? Could they be used to build single molecule wires, or something like single molecule NAND gates, etc?
> these molecules might be candidates for spin-selective transport and/or sensitivity to magnetic fields (...) We hope that at some point these quantum effects can be used in electronic devices which are nothing like the ones we use today.
Basically they're hoping to achieve some form of novel device, not replace existing components.
This isn't without precedent - we have examples like Hall effect and giant magnetoresistive sensors. Both of these went from "weird quantum phenomenon" to "everyone has a device in their home with a component built on this tech".
Re: An unusual class of molecules could revolutionise the electronics industry
#6I'm not entirely sure if I understand – What electrical component could these be used to replace? Could they be used to build single molecule wires, or something like single molecule NAND gates, etc?
> these molecules might be candidates for spin-selective transport and/or sensitivity to magnetic fields (...) We hope that at some point these quantum effects can be used in electronic devices which are nothing like the ones we use today. Basically they're hoping to achieve some form of novel device, not replace existing components. This isn't without precedent - we have examples like Hall effect and giant magnetore…
bombs with electronic triggers is one example of application of a bomb detection sensor...another one is a medial device sensor for safety on cancer medical treatment devices
Re: An unusual class of molecules could revolutionise the electronics industry
#7"Today, research in molecular electronics, in terms of using single molecules, is still at a conceptual stage", says Dr Solomon. "But organic electronics, using films of molecules, is an extremely important technology in many consumer products."
People have gotten carbon nanotubes at least into prototypes rather than just conceptual work. Getting the tubes to stick to the pads reliably enough to form whole computers isn't possibly now but if you're willing to pay enough for a nanotube based 7400 series chip I'm not aware of anything stopping you.
Re: An unusual class of molecules could revolutionise the electronics industry
#8I'm not entirely sure if I understand – What electrical component could these be used to replace? Could they be used to build single molecule wires, or something like single molecule NAND gates, etc?
My lay-brain imagines that a wire of the same "length" could hold much more power that would flow with much less resistance.
Why?
Re: An unusual class of molecules could revolutionise the electronics industry
#9"Today, research in molecular electronics, in terms of using single molecules, is still at a conceptual stage", says Dr Solomon. "But organic electronics, using films of molecules, is an extremely important technology in many consumer products." People have gotten carbon nanotubes at least into prototypes rather than just conceptual work. Getting the tubes to stick to the pads reliably enough to form whole computers…
Well there's also performance characteristics which iirc are not quite CMOS grade yet. Also idk how much of an problem contact resistance would be.
Re: An unusual class of molecules could revolutionise the electronics industry
#10Just a heads up to those who haven't published in peer review journals: hyping the potential commercial applications of your research, no matter how mundane the discovery, is required.
Worse yet, the published work concerns simulations. Simulations are cool, and have great value, but they don't constitute discovery. Confirmation of a theoretical prediction by experimentalists constitutes a discovery.
Even if the effect is confirmed, the road to putting it into commercial use is long and most likely a dead end. I know first hand that "nanoscience" isn't so much science as it is an art. Tiny imperfections result in large changes to desired effects. This is due to the increased contribution of interfaces and surfaces relative to the bulk. The very same property that leads to novel physics is the one that defeats the potential for practical applications.
I long for the day when people can do good science just for the sake of good science, and not have to spin every single paper as being the start of some new revolution that never seems to come.