KOI ANUNTA/YH

Molecular Computing

The ultra-fast computer chips of the future will not be manufactured by Intel, but rather—Mother Nature? For the past few years, the speed of the world's computers has been limited by the capacity of the silicon chip, an electric circuit built from certain key materials. Now, researchers are investigating the potential use of simple molecules as the building blocks of complicated circuits and machinery.

A group of scientists, including Mark Reed, the chairman of Yale's Electrical Engineering Department, has been working on brand new technologies that have broad implications for the computer industry: they have been looking into the field of molecular computing, a new frontier in science that can be used to create tiny switches and electrical components. Reed recently made a big step towards the goal of eventually building machines from simple molecular circuits.

In November of 1999, Reed, along with James Tour, a Rice University chemistry professor, announced in the journal Science that they had created a switch from a single molecule. Switches are the basic building block of any circuit. A popular theory, called Moore's Law, held that the speed of the silicon processors—an integral part of computers—would double every 18 months. However, these jumps in speed also meant that companies like Intel had to spend millions of dollars to build new factories for the faster chips. Reed and his coworkers, however, build their molecular switches in beakers for a fraction of the cost.

After the announcement in Science, Reed, along with Tour, three chemists, and a theoretical physicist, founded Molecular Electronics Corporation, which was started in December and set up its first office in Chicago in January. Despite his new venture, Reed intends to stay on as chairman of the Electrical Engineering Department.

The process Reed and Tour used to build their molecular switch involves the self-assembly of a small molecule—a derivative of the compound benzene—onto a silicon wafer. The molecules form a tiny layer, which show properties like many other simple switches, including the ability to be in reversible "on" and "off" states. The device registered a maximum current of 1.03 nano-Amperes.

According to Reed, these molecular devices can be used in "high-frequency oscillators, mixers, multipliers, logic, and analog-to-digital converters," electrical components that have a wide variety of uses.

Though the potential uses of the new technology are exciting, Reed and his co-founders have not disclosed what types of projects their company will be working on first. However, the company has stated that it will come out with a prototype device in 18 to 24 months.

Molecular Electronics is not the first venture of its kind. The California Molecular Electronics Corporation (CALMEC) was started in March, 1997, and recently announced an IPO (initial public offering) of one thousand shares. In 1999, CALMEC received a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF). CALMEC's scientific leader is Katherine Hutchinson. "Our Phase I research, which is scheduled to be completed later in the year 2000, will synthesize, characterize, and then switch these molecules using a combination of electric field and light," Hutchinson said. CALMEC did not comment on the progress of Reed's group.

In the meantime, Reed has been tight-lipped about exactly what research and achievements his company has made. However, as founder and chief technical officer of Molecular Electronics Corporation, he will certainly be at the forefront of this new field.

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