Are molecules the right choice as transistor channels?

Abstract

Reducing the channel length in conventional MOSFETs has proven to be a useful path in the past to both improved device performance as well as higher packing densities. Molecules seem to be the ultimate answer to the question of how small can we make the channel. However, any real device will not consist of the molecule alone. Contacts will be an essential part of the actual device and its performance. The questions are: 1) How much can we actually benefit from the molecule in terms of a projected device performance. 2) How does one properly make electrical contact to the molecules? 3) A molecule in intimate contact with two metal electrodes may loose its intrinsic properties due to the "proximity" of the source and drain contact and one in bad contact will act like a "single electron transistor" - what is the right way to go? 4) What is the advantage/disadvantage of a small molecule representing a 0D object if compared with a tube or wire as examples of a 1D structure - do we need performance or density? 5) To be of any significant commercialization value, one would have to make a gated device. What is the best way to gate a molecular device? 6) How does one increase yield and reproducibility in manufacturing molecular devices?