Storage and Processing of Information Using Molecules: The All-Photonic Approach with Simple and Multi-Photochromic Switches

The use of photochromes for the implementation of molecular logic operations is a very promising approach toward molecular computing. This statement is based on a) the possibility of operating such molecular devices exclusively with photonic signals and b) spatiotemporally and remotely controlled switching, which is characteristic for photochromes. Herein, a brief overview of the application of simple photochromes and multi-photochromic conjugates for the small-scale functional integration of complicated logic circuits is given. This complements and extends efforts to design molecular photochromic memories for data storage described by many research groups worldwide.