The NanoCell Architecture

Molecular electronics seeks to build electrical devices to implement computation—logic and memory—using individual or small collections of molecules. These devices have the potential to reduce device size and 

Once the physical topology of the self-assembly is formed in the NanoCell, it remains static there is no molecule or nanoparticle dynamic character (other than bond rotations or vibrations) to the highly crosslinked network. The only changeable behavior is in the molecular states conducting on or non-conducting off , as set by voltage pulses from the periphery of the cell, or as defined by the search algorithms in these simulations. 

Several types of room temperature-operable molecular switches have been synthesized and demonstrated in nanopores and atop silicon-chip platforms. The functional molecular switches can be reversibly switched from an off state to an on state, and/or the reverse, based on stimuli such as voltage pulses. The number of nanoparticles (usually metallic or semiconducting) and the number of the interconnecting molecular switches can vary dramatically based on the chosen size of the NanoCell and on the dimensions of the nanoparticles and molecules chosen. 

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Furthermore, as a check of defect tolerance, large, multiple-switch NanoCells were tested for defect tolerance through the SPICE interface. With all switches in the "on" position, the cell showed NAND logic with on-to-off output current thresholds of approximately 20 1. Switches were then chosen at random and set to the "off position and the cell was evaluated periodically (data not shown). The average NanoCell tested had 1826 switches, and >60% of these switches could be turned to the off non-conducting state before the cell lost NAND functionality with the minimum output on-to-off ratio set-point of 10 1. This indicates a high tolerance for numerous faults in the NanoCell architecture. 

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