The Columbia Nanocenter is motivated by two key propositions. The first proposition is that theminiaturization of silicon-based electronics will stagnate in the early part of the 21st century. The second proposition is that the desire for exponential improvement of device performance (as measured by clock speed, circuit density, computing power in mips, etc.) - that is, Moore's Law - will extend into the foreseeable future. Our program is directed toward the expectation that individual molecules provide an attractive alternative to silicon circuitry for carrying out logical operations. Thus we seek to establish the foundation for new paradigms for information processing through the development of fundamental understanding of charge transport phenomena unique to the character of nanoscale molecular structures. Beyond electronics applications, the fundamental studies of molecular transport in the Columbia Nanocenter have the potential to impact other disciplines such as photonics, biology, neuroscience, and medicine.

The mission of the Columbia Nanocenter is to create fundamental knowledge on transport of electrons in molecules and in molecular assemblies of nanometer dimension. The research program of the Center seeks to address basic questions about electronic transport such as the following:

• What are the fundamental principles that determine the response of a molecular system to application of electric potentials?
• Under what circumstances is the conductance of a molecule quantized?
• What are the design rules governing these charge transport phenomena?
• How do we contact molecular systems with metallic electrodes? What is the nature of the contact to individual molecular systems?
• How do we design insulators for molecular circuitry?
• What are the mechanisms for modulation of the conductance of a molecule? How can we build molecules containing the operational functions of a transistor?