Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 3
Molecular Elements of Computers
Who knows how many words the God had tried, before He
found the one that could create the world.
Stanisław Jerzy Lec, Aphorisms
3.1 Preliminary Remarks
For many decades molecules and molecular complexes, with their discrete energy
levels and the ability to switch the molecular system from one state to another, have
been considered ideal elements for computing devices. However, the technological
possibilities available in the first half of the last century and foreseeable at that time
did not allow even to think about the practical use of the molecular primitives.
Moreover, beginning from the 1960s the planar semiconductor technology, with its
promise of increasing the capabilities of computing device manifold, was advanc-
ing at a rapid pace.
Nevertheless, the difficulties in establishing the planar semiconductor technol-
ogy in the 1970s and 1980s, and at the same time, its successful advent as an
entirely new field of technology have revived the idea of building computing
devices based on molecular components. Credible estimates based on the principles
of the theory of molecular structure, developed in the postwar years and confirmed
by experimental studies on a large number of molecules, indicated that, compared
to semiconductor electronics, molecular components can provide:
- A higher degree of integration
- Significantly lower switching energies
- Enhanced stability of circuits with respect to radiation, especially for circuits
with a high degree of integration
At the same time it became clear that the molecular component base could make
possible fundamentally new features, such as:
- Complete identity of the molecular elements with characteristics not subject to
scatter due to unavoidable technological errors
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