Inside Cover: Light‐Powered Electrical Switch Based on Cargo‐Lifting Azobenzene Monolayers (Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 18/2008)

A molecular cargo lifter based on tightly packed monolayers (SAMs) of rigid azobenzene rods is described by M. A. Rampi et al. in their Communication on page 3407 ff. The monolayer, sandwiched between Hg and Au electrodes, is irradiated in situ through a transparent gold surface. The current flowing through the electrodes increases and decreases reversibly under alternating irradiation at 370 and 450 nm. The azobenzene SAM exerts a mechanical force and lifts the Hg drop electrode, and thus the system operates as a photoswitch.