“Nanocells,” disordered assemblies of gold nanowires and conductive organic molecules, can function as non-volatile memory, Rice University chemists have found.

NanoCells offer the potential to reduce device size and fabrication costs by several orders of magnitude

The research appears in the Oct. 29 issue of the Journal of the American Chemical Society. It marks the first time that a self-assembled ensemble of molecular electronic components has been used to create complex devices that carry out basic computing functions.

The NanoCell consists of a set of discontinuous islands of gold film that are vapor-deposited onto a flat rectangle of silicon dioxide measuring about 40 microns by 10 microns. By submersing the sliver of silicon dioxide into a liquid solution of precisely synthesized organic molecules and gold nanowires, the researchers are able to create conductive links between the islands of gold foil. Ten gold leads spaced five microns apart around the perimeter of the NanoCell carry electronic signals to and from the device. The size of the host platform is not critical, so the technology can scale down to much smaller sizes.

Rice University press release