By discovering how molecules behave in energy-efficient electronics, scientists have found that a ten-fold increase in switching efficiency can be obtained by changing just one carbon atom.
A team of scientists at Tyndall National Institute at University College Cork and the National University of Singapore made the discovery -which may provide new ways to prevent overheating in laptops and mobile phones. This may also lead to advances in tissue repair for wound healing.
In the February issue of Nature Nanotechnology, the scientists detailed their creation of these devices based on molecules which act as electrical values or diode rectifiers. These molecules then allow current flow to be switched ON and can block current flow when switched OFF.
The Science Foundation Ireland provided the computing clusters at Tyndall and the Irish Centre for High End Computing for the experiments and simulations. These experiments led to the discovery that minute improvements in molecular orientation and packing trigger changes in large van der Waals forces have the ability to significantly improve electronic device performance.
Molecular scale electronics relies heavily on simulation and high performance computing, areas which need a great deal more research. All agree that continued support will be key in order to advancing and creating cutting edge technology for the global market. Ireland wants to compete with the rest of the world in the technology arena, and this means continued funding and continued research.
