CIF: SMALL: Toward a Molecular Computer: Scaling up Programmable single-molecule Junctions Based on DNA self-assembly

分子电子学领域的目标是利用单分子作为创建电子电路的主要构建块。这将使计算机和许多电子产品实现前所未有的小型化，并提高数据传输速度、存储效率和信号处理能力。虽然已经制造出了一些单分子和碳纳米管晶体管，但还没有制造出复杂的功能电路。制造单分子电子学的一个基本挑战是如何以可靠、可重复和可批量生产的方式制造具有纳米间隙的金属电极结。该项目的目标是发现使用基于dna的折纸纳米结构作为模板来制造这种连接的方法。与光刻技术相比，基于DNA的自组装技术具有显著降低电子设备制造成本的潜力，同时减少了环境足迹。该项目将为计算机科学、生物化学、材料科学、纳米制造等领域的研究生和本科生提供跨学科的研究培训，这与工业和学术生涯有关。通过“外展和大学预科项目”，来自少数族裔背景的高中生将参加实验室研究，并在夏季的几个月里上课，以熟悉计算机科学、工程和纳米技术领域。该奖项将使用自组装DNA纳米结构作为模板，将各向异性纳米颗粒组织成合理设计的结构，并在纳米尺度上精确控制位置和方向。这项工作将为制造可扩展且具有成本效益的金属电极提供一个新的平台，可用于：a)并联集成多个单分子组件，b)以可靠和可重复的方式研究各种分子的电子转移。这项研究和发现是制造新一代计算机小型化集成分子电路的重要一步。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The field of molecular electronics aims to exploit single-molecules as the main building blocks for creating electronic circuitry. This would allow the unprecedented miniaturization of computers and many electronics with enhanced data transfer speed, storage efficacy, and signal processing. While some single molecule- and carbon nanotube-transistors have been created, no complex and functional electrical circuits have been fabricated. One fundamental challenge in the fabrication of single-molecule electronics is to create a metal electrode junction with nanometer gaps in a reliable, reproducible, and mass-producible manner. The goal of this project is to discover ways to fabricate such junctions using DNA-based origami nanostructures as templates. DNA based self-assembly has the potential to dramatically decrease the manufacturing cost of electronic devices compared with lithography techniques, while reducing the environmental footprint. This project will provide interdisciplinary research training for graduate and undergraduate students from computer science, biochemistry, material science, to nanofabrication, which is relevant for industrial and academic careers. Through "Outreach and Pre-college Programs" high school students from minority backgrounds will participate in laboratory research and take classes during the summer months to become acquainted with the fields of computer science, engineering and nanotechnology. This award will use self-assembled DNA nanostructures as templates to organize anisotropic nanoparticles into rationally-designed architectures with precisely controlled position and orientation at the nanometer scale. This work will provide a novel platform for fabricating scalable and cost-effective metallic electrodes which could be used to: a) integrate multiple single-molecule components in parallel, and b) study electron transferring of various molecules in a reliable and reproducible manner. The research and findings constitute an important step towards the fabrication of the new generation of integrated molecular circuits for miniaturization of computers.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.