ABSTRACT
Molecular electronics is one of the most promising candidates currently discussed for nanoelectronics. The big advantage of this field is that organic molecules are well-defined stable structures on an atomic scale, which, in principle, can be modified atom by atom in large quantities by means of chemical synthesis. In 1974, A. Aviram and M. A. Ratner introduced a concept for a molecular rectifier based on the use of a single organic molecule. Advances in supra-molecular chemistry have enabled the synthesis of a variety of tailor-made complex molecules, which have been designed to meet different requirements such as a high conductivity, the possibility of switching between two states triggered either by photons or electrons, a stiff rod-like structure and good solubility. Molecular electronics has become a very vibrant and interdisciplinary field of science, where physicists, chemists and engineers in academia and industry work together on various aspects and levels in large-scale national and international collaborations.
