This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project is based on the development and commercialization of Chiropticenes, a novel class of single-molecule chiroptical dipole switches. Chiropticene molecular switches are triggered by a combination of light and electric field, which cause both the chirality and dipole direction to be reversed. Information stored in the Chiropticenes is read nondestructively with circularly polarized light, which ensures erase-read-write capability. The Chiropticene molecular switch is the fundamental component in CALMEC's nanotechnology-based optical data storage technology. The objective of the Phase I research is to demonstrate the feasibility of the unique Chiropticene switch. Various organic Chiropticenes will be synthesized, characterized and then 'switched' using a combination of electric field and light. The completion of Phase I will verify the switch mechanism and lead directly into Phase II, which is the fabrication of a two-dimensional optical data storage device.
