Molecular Wires

Molecular wires are compounds that are proposed to be used in molecular electronic and optoelectronic devices to replace the metal and silicon-based wires in semiconductor devices. We review the field, including organic molecular wires such as oligo(2,5-thiophene ethynylene)s, oligo(1,4-phenylene ethynylene)s, oligo(1,4-phenylene vinylene)s, aromatic ladder oligomers, oligophenylenes, polyphenylenes, acetylene oligomers, carbon nanotubes, and organometallic molecular wires. We briefly review the measurement of conduction in molecular wires and conclude that fully conjugated organic aromatic molecular wires are the best candidates for introduction into new electronic devices as replacements for the Al or Cu wiring presently used in logic and memory devices.