NJ Tao Research Group

    Molecular electronics and nanoelectronics
 

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Building a device using a single or a few molecules is one of the ultimate goals in technology. Although molecular electronics has been proposed as an alternative to Si in post CMOS devices, molecules with properties and functions that are fundamentally different from the Si-based microelectronics are only beginning to be discovered. These properties and functions include optoelectronic, thermoelectric, electromechanical and molecular recognition, which may lead to new devices that are not possible using conventional materials and approaches. Studying these properties and the interplay between them is a necessary step towards the ultimate goal of building devices using individual molecules, and also provides us with an unprecedented opportunity to understand charge transport, a phenomenon that plays important roles in many chemical and biological processes, at the single molecule level. We believe that this study will provide us with new insight into the electron transport properties of molecules, as well as necessary knowledge and skills for future device applications.

• Electron transport in single molecules
• Electromechanical properties of single molecules
• Electronic reading of chemical information of single molecules
 

Text Box: Fig. 1 A molecule electrically "wired" to two electrodes serves as a model system for studying charge transport in single molecules and is a basic building block for developing device applications. This project focus on the electrical, thermal and mechanical properties of single molecules, in order to achieve a better understanding of charge transport and to explore new functions of single molecules.