Integrated multiscale modeling of molecular computing devices

Abstract

Molecular electronics, in which single organic molecules are designed to perform the functions of transistors, diodes, switches and other circuit elements used in current siliconbased microelecronics, is drawing wide interest as a potential replacement technology for conventional silicon-based lithographically etched microelectronic devices. In addition to their nanoscopic scale, the additional advantage of molecular electronics devices compared to silicon-based lithographically etched devices is the promise of being able to produce them cheaply on an industrial scale using wet chemistry methods (i.e., self-assembly from solution). The design of molecular electronics devices, and the processes to make them on an industrial scale, will require a thorough theoretical understanding of the molecular and higher level processes involved. Hence, the development of modeling techniques for molecular electronics devices is a high priority from both a basic science point of view (to understand the experimental studies in this field) and from an applied nanotechnology (manufacturing) point of view. Modeling molecular electronics devices requires computational methods at all length scales – electronic structure methods for calculating electron transport through organic molecules bonded to inorganic surfaces, molecular simulation methods for determining the structure of self-assembled films of organic molecules on inorganic surfaces, mesoscale methods to understand and predict the formation of mesoscale patterns on surfaces (including interconnect architecture), and macroscopic scale methods (including finite element methods) for simulating the behavior of molecular electronic circuit elements in a larger integrated device. Here we describe a large Department of Energy project involving six universities and one national laboratory aimed at developing integrated multiscale methods for modeling molecular electronics devices. The project is funded equally by the Office of Basic Energy Sciences and the Office of Advanced Scientific Computing Research, both within the Office of Science of the Department of Energy.