Scientists Create Molecular “Switch”

French scientists have announced their success in manipulating a molecule to change both its charge and its physical shape, effectively creating a “switch” that could have applications for ultra-small electronics.

The experimenters used a scanning tunneling microscope to both observe and manipulate the molecule. By applying a small electrical charge, the molecule gained an electron. Because of the repelling force of electrons, the other atoms shift position from a flat square to that of a pyramid. By reversing the charge applied, the electron can be removed, and the shape changes back to that of a flat square. Most importantly, the scientists confirmed that that geometric shape of the molecule seems to be linked to its charge.

That’s all well and good for pure science, but for regular folks like us, this research could someday lead to smaller, higher capacity memory. Because the molecule changes shape with its charge, it can be thought of as either “off” or “on.” This binary relationship means that someday, this type of molecular manipulation could be used to store the ones and zeroes that make up digital data with a molecule as a single binary bit. With flash memory becoming more and more expensive and many facing the need for larger and larger amounts of personal data storage, breakthrough techniques like this will probably be needed to continue fueling the world’s computing power.

(image and story via Physorg)

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Max Eddy