Professor Manabu Kiguchi of Tokyo Institute of Technology, Associate Professor Tomofumi Tada of the Center for Elemental Strategy Research, and Professor Makoto Fujita of the Graduate School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo have succeeded in developing an electronic device using a single molecule.Elements used in computers and smartphones have made progress by microfabrication of silicon, but performance improvement is reaching its limit.Molecular devices are attracting attention as candidates for breaking that barrier.
Professor Fujita created a relatively large molecule by stacking plate-shaped molecules in a cage-like substance.It has been known for some time that electricity flows through computer simulations by Associate Professor Tada and experiments by Professor Kiguchi.And in this research, we succeeded in passing an electric current in only one direction by stacking molecules of different types.It will have the same characteristics as the diode, which is the most basic semiconductor element.
In this research, we succeeded in manufacturing the most basic diode in a semiconductor device with a single molecule.However, in order to make a computer etc. based on an element made from such molecules, it is necessary to make more complicated elements such as transistors and memories with molecules.In the future, we aim to improve the performance as a diode and realize an element with more advanced functions with a single molecule.If such an element is possible, it may realize performance far surpassing that of today's computers.