6. Conclusions and outlook

The deposition of molecules on surfaces is a rapidly expanding field. After a great deal of work, deposition and characterization techniques are now well mastered. Thanks to these results, applications are now conceivable. But before we can succeed in designing viable, commercial devices, some very fundamental work needs to be done. This will involve optimizing the control of molecule/substrate and molecule/molecule interactions, and developing molecular engineering to give adsorbates new electronic, optical, chemical or biological properties.

This work is at the crossroads of physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics. It should eventually lead to the replacement of miniaturization by a bottom-up approach.