Patent ID: 7826250

Claim:
A molecular memory device comprising: a first electrode and a second electrode disposed to contact a redox-active compound comprising a porphyrinic macrocycle and thereby form an electrochemical storage cell wherein said first and second electrodes are fixed electrodes; a voltage source connected to said first electrode; a switch that allows said compound to be isolated from said voltage source and said storage cell to reach an open circuit potential; and a current transducer for measuring current produced by said electrochemical cell; and dedicated read/refresh/rewrite circuitry that configured to determine the oxidation state of said compound by: activating said switch to isolate said compound from said voltage source thereby allowing said electrochemical cell to reach an open circuit potential (OCP); then connecting said electrochemical cell to an externally applied potential equivalent to said open circuit potential; and operating said current transducer to detect a resulting current if said current exists wherein the magnitude of said current is a measure of the oxidation state of said compound.