Nanoelectronic circuit elements based on metal-molecular networks

Challenges associated with scaling down conventional silicon integrated circuits have inspired nanometer-scale alternatives and complements to silicon nanoelectronics in order to continue the miniaturization of electronic components down to approximately 1 nm. Molecular electronics offers a pathway for fabricating low-cost electronic components at these deep nanoscale levels. Specifically, metal-molecular junctions comprised of interconnected thiolated molecules and metallic components have been identified as potential candidates for future electronic devices. In this work, we report on density functional non-equilibrium Green's function studies of the electronic and transport properties of nanoscale networks consisting of thiolated molecules and gold clusters. Electron transmission shows significant peaks corresponding to conductive pathways via molecular orbitals and calculated current-voltage characteristics of the networks display nonlinear behavior and negative differential resistance. These results provide a pathway for utilizing electronics at the molecular level by employing organic-inorganic superstructures with different geometries for future devices and circuits.