Computing at the molecular level

With the pace of miniaturization of silicon-based computer chips hurtling toward an insurmountable barrier, it has become necessary to envisage a smaller scale on which logic operations can be performed - the molecular scale. This review documents a small fraction of the research currently being undertaken around the globe into the development of systems which, in the solution state, mimic the behavior of switches and logic gates, through the two-dimensional ordering of molecules as a result of the formation of Langmuir films, up to the incorporation of suitably designed molecules into solid-state molecular electronic devices capable of performing useful tasks, such as the retention of memory and the operation of logic gates.