National Institute of Standards and Technology researchers said they have demonstrated a single layer of organic molecules can be assembled on the same kind of substrate that is used in conventional microchips.

The scientists said the ability to use a silicon crystal substrate that is compatible with the industry-standard manufacturing technology of complementary metal oxide semiconductor, or CMOS, paves the way for hybrid CMOS-molecular device circuitry -- the necessary precursor to a totally molecular technology.

The NIST team fabricated two molecular electronic devices, each with a different length of carbon chain populating the monolayer. Both devices successfully resisted electrical flow with the one possessing longer chains having the greater resistance as expected, the researchers said. A control device lacking the monolayer showed less resistance, proving the other two units functioned as non-linear resistors.

The scientists said their next step is to fabricate a CMOS-molecular hybrid circuit to show molecular electronic components can work in harmony with current microelectronics technologies.

The findings appear in the April 2 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society.

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