Nanoscale switch based on interacting molecular dipoles: Cooperativity can improve the device characteristics

Abstract

We propose a nanoscale switch, giving a nonlinear function with two conductive states separated by a sharp transition region, on the basis of an array of molecular dipoles. We show theoretically that the local interactions between dipoles result in cooperative phenomena that can significantly improve the switching characteristics. We demonstrate the general validity of the concept in the cases of (i) an electrical switch robust to the finite size and variability effects inherent to the nanoscale and (ii) a sensing layer based on the voltage and ligand concentration dependence of the dipole array conductance.