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#Industry News

BERKELEY LAB: WORLD’S HIGHEST-PERFORMANCE SINGLE MOLECULE DIODE

Researchers Claim Big Advance in the Budding Field of Molecule-Sized Electronics

Researchers from Berkeley Lab and Columbia University have claimed to have created the highest-performing, single-molecule diode ever made, which is reportedly up to 50 times more powerful and efficient than anything currently in production. Typical diodes are usually made from silicon with a p-n (positive-negative) junction formed at the meeting point of a positively ‘doped’ semiconductor and a negatively doped one. Effectively a diode acts as a sort of flow-control valve, that permits electric current to flow in one direction and stops it from flowing in the reverse direction. This behavior is known as rectification and therefore these types of diodes are called rectifiers.

In the budding field of molecule-sized electronics this on/off behavior is normally achieved by the generation of molecules that chemically emulate the p-n junction. However, the results haven’t been very encouraging with poor current flow capabilities and erratic rectification. Enter a team of Columbia University researchers who claim to have solved some of the major problems.

“Using a single symmetric molecule, an ionic solution and two gold electrodes of dramatically different exposed surface areas, we were able to create a diode that resulted in a rectification ratio, the ratio of forward to reverse current at fixed voltage, in excess of 200, which is a record for single-molecule devices,” said Jeffrey Neaton, director of the Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry. “The asymmetry necessary for diode behavior originates with the different exposed electrode areas and the ionic solution. This leads to different electrostatic environments surrounding the two electrodes and superlative single-molecule device behavior.”

Jeff Neaton, director of the Molecular Foundry.

Details

  • Barrows Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720, United States
  • BERKELEY LAB

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