By Plasmon we mean an electron density wave affecting free electrons at the interface between a conducting material and a non-conducting material. An important step towards using a single molecule as a converter between electronic and plasmonic circuits has been verified! Using both electromagnetic waves and electronic excitation at the surface of a metal, surface plasmons can be guided and confined at nanometer scale, and may lead to the development of ultra miniature and ultra fast electronics.

For the first time, Physicists and Chemists of the Institute of Physics and Chemistry of Materials of Strasbourg (CNRS/Univ. Strasbourg) and the Paris Institute for Molecular Chemistry (IPCM, CNRS/UPMC) have just integrated a molecule of porphyrine into an electronic circuit with the help of molecular bonds. They are then able to cause emission of plasmons to the latter by making an electric current circulate in the circuit thus created.

This work may foresee the development of t...