Chiropticenes: Molecular chiroptical dipole switches for optical data storage

Chiropticenes are a novel class of single-molecule chiroptical dipole switches. The fundamental mechanism of the Chiropticene switch is that the combination of light and electric field cause both the chirality and the dipole direction to be simultaneously reversed. The information stored in the Chiropticenes can be read nondestructively with circularly polarized light, which ensures erase-read-write capability. These molecular switches are exceptional in that they have the potential to be exploited on both the molecular and macroscopic scale. The Chiropticene switch has been designed for incorporation into an optical data storage device that will be faster and have a higher capacity than the currently available technology. The organic Chiropticene is molecularly engineered to fulfill ail the requirements of a switching device in electronic applications. Its modular structure is able to provide an extraordinary capacity to chemically tune the properties of the switch molecule. The synthesis of the Chiropticenes and characterization of their optical properties will be presented. The designs of nanodevice architectures based on Langmuir-Blodgett films and/or self-assembled monolayers will also be presented.