Abstract: Volatile and non-volatile solid state molecular switching devices which are electrically addressable and may be used in memory cells, routing circuits, inverters and field programmable devices which may or may not be designed to exhibit diode behavior. The molecular switching devices include certain [2] catenanes as bistable molecules which are sandwiched between two switch terminals. The switches are extremely small and have dimensions which range from several microns down to a few nanometers.

Abstract: A semiconductor processing method is provided for growing a polycrystalline film by preferably chemical vapor deposition (CVD) from a suitable precursor gas or gases on a substrate which has been coated with seeds, preferably of nanocrystal size, of the semiconductor material. The structure of the nanocrystal seeds (not the substrate) serves as a template for the structure of the final polycrystalline film. The density of the seeds and the thickness of the grown polycrystalline film determine the grain size of the polycrystalline film at the surface of said film. Epitaxial CVD onto the seeds to produce the polycrystalline film avoids the recrystallization step generally necessary for the formation of a polycrystalline film, and thus allows for the growth of polycrystalline films at reduced temperatures.