Yoshinori Suganuma et al 2005 Nanotechnology 16 1196 doi:10.1088/0957-4484/16/8/037
Yoshinori Suganuma, Paul-Emil Trudeau and Al-Amin Dhirani1
Show affiliationsDigital computers use binary states, typically represented by 0 and 5 V, to store and process information at all stages of a calculation. If more states (ideally a continuum) were available in between, density of information could be dramatically increased. Here we show that self-assembled nanoparticle films can feature such continuous state or analogue information storage. Information provided by an arbitrary gate voltage is 'written' by trapping charges in local, gate-modified potentials when films are cooled below 175 K. The information is 'read' using the film's built-in ability to sense charge via Coulomb blockade. Application of a time-dependent, multi-step writing gate voltage generates conductance maps corresponding to multi-valued continuous information. As a proof of concept, we exploit this technique to store 'UT' in Morse code.
Issue 8 (August 2005)
Received 3 January 2005, in final form 17 April 2005
Published 20 May 2005
Yoshinori Suganuma et al 2005 Nanotechnology 16 1196
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