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Zurich, Switzerland, 22 February 2007—Emanuel Lörtscher
of IBM's (NYSE:IBM) Zurich Research Laboratory received the 2007
Applied Physics Award of the Swiss Physical Society (SPS) for his
outstanding achievements in the field of molecular electronics—a
hot new prospect for future information processing.
 The
SPS award recognizes Emanuel Lörtscher's breakthrough demonstration
of a single-molecule switch. Switching between an "on"
and an "off" state is the basic functionality required
for information processing, and Lörtscher's experiments with
a single molecule contacted between two electrodes prove that it
is indeed the molecule itself which performs the switching. This
demonstration is the latest success in efforts to leverage the properties
of molecules such that they can become the building blocks of future
memory and logic applications.
Lörtscher's results demonstrate reversible, voltage-induced
switching between the low-conductive "off" state and the
high-conductive "on" state of an individual molecule.
In order to investigate the molecule's electronic properties, Lörtscher
started with the mechanically controllable break junction (MCBJ)
technique and enhanced it with a statistical measurement approach
to verify that only a single molecule was positioned between two
atomic-sized electrodes. He then succeeded in proving that a single
molecule can be switched between the "on" and "off"
states needed for memory applications. Moreover, by performing repeated
write-read-erase-read cycles, Lörtscher demonstrated that these
two distinct bit states are stable and can be read back without
destroying the molecule, thus revealing the potential of a single-molecule
system for use as a memory element.
Emanuel Lörtscher joined IBM's Zurich Research Laboratory in
2004. His current research interests are in the field of nanoscale
devices based on single molecules and semiconducting nanowires,
as well as their potential applications to future information-processing
technologies for the so-called post-CMOS era. Lörtscher holds
a degree in physics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Techology
in Zurich and a PhD from the University of Basel for his work on
charge-carrier transport through single molecules.
Every year, the Swiss Physical Society award is given in recognition
of young physicists working in Switzerland-or Swiss physicists working
abroad-for their outstanding scientific contributions to the fields
of general physics, applied physics, or condensed-matter physics.
The prize endowment is 5,000 Swiss francs.
About the Swiss Physical Society
The Swiss Physical
Society (SPS) is a nationwide organization of physicists working
in or associated with Switzerland. The society's objective is to
represent the interests of the physics community in Switzerland
and to promote public awareness of the increasingly important role
played by physics in today's high-tech world. With nearly 1200 members,
the SPS is the largest organization of the Swiss
Academy of Sciences (SCNAT).
About the IBM Zurich Research Laboratory
The IBM Zurich Research Laboratory (ZRL) is the European branch of IBM Research.
This worldwide network of some 3500 employees in eight laboratories around the
globe is the largest industrial research organization in the world.
The Zurich laboratory was established in 1956 and currently employs some 320
persons of more than 30 nationalities. World-class research and outstanding
scientific achievements—most notably two Nobel prizes—are associated
with ZRL. Its spectrum of research activities ranges from basic science and
fundamental research in physics and mathematics, to the development of computer
systems and software, to the design of novel business models and services that
are becoming available "on demand".
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