Organic Functional Molecules towards Information Processing and High-Density Information Storage

• Published in: Advanced materials (Weinheim) Vol. 20; no. 15; pp. 2888 - 2898
• Main Authors: Jiang, Guiyuan, Song, Yanlin, Guo, Xuefeng, Zhang, Deqing, Zhu, Daoben
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim WILEY-VCH Verlag 04.08.2008; WILEY‐VCH Verlag
• Subjects: conductance transition; high-density information storage; logic gates; photochromic spiropyran; switchable systems
• ISSN: 0935-9648; 1521-4095
• DOI: 10.1002/adma.200800666

In this Progress Report, we discuss our recent achievements in design and synthesis of new functional molecules towards information processing at the molecular level and high‐density information storage. These include: 1) new molecular switches, logic gates, and combinational logic circuits based on molecules and ensembles with photochromic spiropyran units that undergo reversible structural transformation among multistates, in response to external inputs such as light, protons, and metal ions; 2) high‐density information storage, mainly focusing on nanometer‐scale electrical recording based on the conductance transition of organic molecules, and multimode data storage on multiresponsive molecules. Relevant progress and an outlook in this area are also discussed. New molecular switches and logic gates are constructed based on the spectral tuning of spiropyran‐containing molecules and ensembles. High‐density information storage is achieved based on the conductance transition of thin films of organic functional molecules.