Concept of nonvolatile memory based on multiwall carbon nanotubes

In this study, a novel concept is proposed for molecular electronics that uses vertically aligned multiwall carbon nanotubes as nonvolatile memory elements. Nanotubes grown on a patterned substrate may be opened by partially deleting the outer molecular layer or layers, so that the inner core is able to move along the vertical tube axis. Mounting another dielectric plate above the nanotube forest at a specific distance from the tube caps can provide two stable van der Waals states of the inner core, providing for nonvolatile data storage. A device built using this architecture can function as a two-dimensional memory array. At each cross point in the array, a multiwall carbon nanotube exists in either the separated off-state or in the contact on-state, and can be switched between these states by applying voltage pulses at the corresponding electrodes. A theoretical memory density as high as 10(13) memory elements per square centimetre is possible, with an operation frequency exceeding 100 GHz. Significant physical characteristics of such a device are bi-stability and reversibility. Such a device can function both as nonvolatile random access memory and as terabit solid-state storage.