From stochastic single atomic switch to nanoscale resistive memory device
Attila Geresdi, András Halbritter, András Gyenis, Péter Makk and György Mihály
Nanoscale, 2011, DOI:10.1039/C0NR00951B
Scientists from Hungary have published some important work in Nanoscale regarding the use of solid state ionic conductors as atomic-sized junctions in non-volatile computer memory devices. By varying the size of the junctions from single-atom-sized to 10 nm, the group concluded that there is a lower size limit of 3 nm for reliable ionic nano-switches, a size which is well below the resolution of recent lithographic techniques.
In this work, Garesdi et al. created the junctions by gently touching a silver thin film with an electrochemically sharpened tungsten tip. Exposure of the silver film to air established the ionic conductor surface layer, and the nanoscale ‘point-contact’ geometry was sufficient to form a reliable switching device above the 3 nm threshold. Below this value, the switching process was much less reliable. The storage density here, even with the 3 nm limit, would be higher than current NAND flash devices and similar to the proposed bit size threshold of magnetic media which arises due to the superparamagnetic limit.
The authors provide a detailed analysis of the physical properties of the nano-junctions, as well as an explanation of the underlying mechanisms. They conclude that their ionic conductor-based devices are good candidates for non-volatile memory cells.
To read this article, click here.
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From stochastic single atomic switch to nanoscale resistive memory device
Attila Geresdi, András Halbritter, András Gyenis, Péter Makk and György Mihály
Nanoscale
DOI:10.1039/C0NR00951B
Scientists from Hungary have published some important results in Nanoscale regarding the use of solid state ionic conductors as atomic-sized junctions in non-volatile computer memory devices. By varying the size of the junctions from single-atom-sized to 10 nm, the group concluded that there is a lower size limit of 3 nm for reliable ionic nano-switches, a size which is well below the resolution of recent lithographic techniques.
In this work, Garesdi et al. created these junctions by gently touching a silver thin film with an electrochemically sharpened tungsten tip. Exposure of the silver film to air established the ionic conductor surface layer, and the nanoscale ‘point-contact’ geometry was sufficient to form a reliable switching device above the 3 nm threshold. Below this value, the switching process was much less reliable. The storage density here, even with the 3 nm limit, would be higher than current NAND flash devices and similar to the proposed bit size limit of magnetic media which arises due to the superparamagnetic limit.
The authors provide a detailed analysis of the physical properties of the nano-junctions, as well as an explanation of the underlying mechanisms. They conclude that their ionic conductor-based devices are good candidates for non-volatile memory cells.
To read this article, click here.
