Synthetic Electronics

Abstract

Building electronic circuitry with atomic precision is beyond the capability of current, as well as in the foreseeable future, top-down lithographic techniques. In recent years, the US Office of Naval Research (ONR) has championed several research initiatives that sought to address this key challenge. One of the most exciting development and initial success that resulted from these initiatives is a bottom-up chemical synthesis technique that has proven highly effective at assembling two-dimensional (2D) graphene nanostructures with spatial resolution down to single atom and single bond level. In this presentation I will briefly review, from a government program manager perspective, the current status of this exciting new research field which I call Synthetic Electronics. I will highlight some recent technical and scientific advances, such as various on-surface synthesis techniques, that enable and help define future directions of synthetic electronics. I will share some of my own personal perspectives and speculate on possible future directions, and also draw attention to some of the major challenges that are facing synthetic electronics. The motivation behind the discussion is to socialize the basic ideas and capabilities with, and seek feedback from, the relevant research communities, in order to inform and further refine research agenda in the future.