Molecular Memories That Survive Silicon Device Processing and Real-World Operation

If molecular components are to be used as functional elements in place of the semiconductor-based devices present in conventional microcircuitry, they must compete with semiconductors under the extreme conditions required for processing and operating a practical device. Herein, we demonstrate that porphyrin-based molecules bound to Si(100), which exhibit redox behavior useful for information storage, can meet this challenge. These molecular media in an inert atmosphere are stable under extremes of temperature ($400\textdegree C$) for extended periods (approaching 1 hour) and do not degrade under large numbers of read-write cycles (1012).