The impending breakdown in Moore's Law has prompted the search for molecule-based information processing components such as molecular switches and logic gates. Molecules that can exist in two “states” with distinct absorbance or fluorescence behaviour have attracted considerable interest for Boolean logic operations.

We are pursuing molecules that can exist in more than two states, and for which the "read-out" is via a change in optical properties (the figure shows an example of an organometallic complex that can be switched between six stable states with different properties by using orthogonal stimuli (protonation/deprotonation, oxidation/reduction, photoisomerization). This project will involve the synthesis of new organic and organometallic switches and characterization of their accessible states using various techniques including UV/vis/NIR/IR spectroelectrochemistry.