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

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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.