Molecular mechanics and molecular electronics

Electronic devices containing molecules as either passive or active (switching) components present the opportunity for scaling electronic circuitry down to near-molecular dimensions. In this paper the kinetic and thermodynamic properties of bistable molecular mechanical switches known as catenanes and rotaxanes are discussed. A defect-tolerant, binary tree demultiplexer architecture using Order log/sub 2/N submicron (lithographically patterned) wires to address TV nanowires are developed. Apart from traditional applications of memory, logic, and routing, new opportunities that include actuation, sensing, energy management, and possibly even peptide sequencing are enabled by these nanofabrication approaches.