A team of scientists from Tyndall National Institute at
University College Cork and the National University of Singapore have designed
and fabricated ultra-small devices for energy-efficient electronics. By finding
out how molecules behave in these devices, a ten-fold increase in switching
efficiency was obtained by changing just one carbon atom. These devices could
provide new ways to combat overheating in mobile phones and laptops, and could
also aid in electrical stimulation of tissue repair for wound healing. The
breakthrough creation of molecular devices with highly controllable electrical
properties will appear in the February issue of Nature Nanotechnology (Advance
Online Publication doi:10.1038/nnano.2012.238). Dr. Damien Thompson at the
Tyndall National Institute, UCC and a team of researchers at the National
University of Singapore led by Prof. Chris Nijhuis designed and created the
devices, which are based on molecules acting as electrical valves, or diode
rectifiers.