Communications of the ACM
New Flash Memory Combines Graphene and Molybdenite
Combining graphene and molybdenite into a prototype transistor allowed researchers to make great strides in miniaturization.
Credit: EPFL
Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) say they have combined graphene and molybdenite (MoS2) into a flash memory prototype with promising performance, size, flexibility, and energy consumption characteristics.
"For our memory model, we combined the unique electronic properties of MoS2 with graphene's amazing conductivity," says EPFL's Andras Kis.
The researchers note that both graphene and molybdenite are expected to surpass the physical limitations of conventional silicon chips and electronic transistors, and their two-dimensional chemical structure gives them huge potential for miniaturization and mechanical flexibility.
The transistor prototype was designed using field-effect geometry, which involves a layer of molybdenite between two layers of graphene. This configuration captures electric charge and thus stores memory.
"Combining these two materials enabled us to make great progress in miniaturization, and also using these transistors we can make flexible nanoelectronic devices," Kis says. The prototype stores a bit of memory, but because molybdenite is thinner than silicon and thus more sensitive to charge, it offers great potential for more efficient data storage, according to Kis.
From Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne
View Full Article
Abstracts Copyright © 2013 Information Inc., Bethesda, Maryland, USA
No entries found