Bendable Memory Made from Nanowire Transistors

October 20, 2010 | Source: Technology Review

Nanowire transistors (Junginn Sohn, Cambridge Nanoscience Center)

University of Cambridge researchers have made a new kind of flexible, nonvolatileĀ nanoscale memory component that could someday be used to pack more data into gadgets.

The device stores bits of information using the conductance of nanoscale transistors made from zinc oxide. The new memory cannot hold data for as long as flash, and it is slower and has fewer rewrite cycles, but it could potentially be made smaller and packed together more densely.

Its main advantage: it’s made using simple processes at room temperature, so it can be deposited on top of flexible plastic materials. Nanowire memory could, for instance, be built into a flexible display and could be packed into smaller spaces inside cell phones, MP3 players, plastic RFID tags, and credit cards.