Computing With Molecules

By Gary Anthes

June 24, 2002 12:00 PM ET

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In January, HP and UCLA patented a process for manufacturing a memory device from a grid of wires, each just a few atoms wide - connected by single-molecule switches. The wires aren't manufactured in the traditional sense but are made to grow naturally from a silicon substrate placed in a chemical bath. The patent also covers software that allows the grid to be mapped like city streets so information locations and flows can be precisely controlled.

Despite HP's initial success with molecular memories and logic, commercialization of the concepts is not a slam-dunk, Williams says.

"The major obstacle we face is we do not understand the fundamental physics behind the operation of our devices," he says. "I have had an HP vice president stare me right in the eye and tell me there is no way he's going to approve the funds for a manufacturing facility if I can't assure him we know exactly how and why these things work. If you don't understand the fundamental physics of the device, you can't fix it when it breaks, or you can't fix the factory when it breaks."

Scientists at HP Labs have produced an array of parallel conductive wires about 10 atoms wide. The wires will be used to connect molecular switches. The wires are on a silicon surface, as shown in these scanning tunneling microscope images.

Photo Credit–HP Labs

Read more about hardware in Computerworld's Hardware Knowledge Center.

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