Tech
Revolutionary Memory Prototype Combines Graphene And Molybdenite
Mark Hoffman
First Posted: Mar 21, 2013 05:57 PM EDT
EPFL scientists presented a flash memory prototype that could very well be a candidate for the next series of memory speed and capacity explosions. By combining graphene and molybdenite, both materials with advantageous electronic properties, the new memory chip holds promise in terms of superior performance, size, flexibility and energy consumption.
The molybdenite nonvolatile memory cell is the next step, after EPFL researchers developed a basic molybdenite chip before, and represents significant progress towards the use of this new material in electronics applications. And it is even more exciting because scientists from EPFL's Laboratory of Nanometer Electronics and Structures (LANES) came up with a truly original idea: they combined the advantages of this semiconducting material with those of another amazing material - graphene. The results of their research have recently been published in the journal ACS Nano.
"For our memory model, we combined the unique electronic properties of molybdenite (MoS2) with graphene's amazing conductivity," explains Andras Kis, author of the study and director of LANES.
Molybdenite and graphene have many things in common. Both are expected to surpass the physical limitations of our current silicon chips and electronic transistors. Their two-dimensional chemical structure - the fact that they're made up of a layer only a single atom thick - gives them huge potential for miniaturization and mechanical flexibility.
While graphene is one of the best conductor materials, molybdenite has very good semi-conducting properties. MoS2 has an ideal "energy band" in its electronic structure that graphene does not. This allows it to switch very easily from an "on" to an "off" state, and thus to use less electricity. Used together, the two materials can thus combine their unique advantages.
The transistor prototype developed by LANES was designed using "field effect" geometry, a bit like a sandwich. In the middle, instead of silicon, a thin layer of MoS2 channels electrons. Underneath, the electrodes transmitting electricity to the MoS2 layer are made out of graphene. And on top, the scientists also included an element made up of several layers of graphene; this 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," explains Kis. The prototype stores a bit of memory, just a like a traditional cell.
But according to the scientist, because molybdenite is thinner than silicon and thus more sensitive to charge, it offers great potential for more efficient data storage.
References:
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First Posted: Mar 21, 2013 05:57 PM EDT
EPFL scientists presented a flash memory prototype that could very well be a candidate for the next series of memory speed and capacity explosions. By combining graphene and molybdenite, both materials with advantageous electronic properties, the new memory chip holds promise in terms of superior performance, size, flexibility and energy consumption.
The molybdenite nonvolatile memory cell is the next step, after EPFL researchers developed a basic molybdenite chip before, and represents significant progress towards the use of this new material in electronics applications. And it is even more exciting because scientists from EPFL's Laboratory of Nanometer Electronics and Structures (LANES) came up with a truly original idea: they combined the advantages of this semiconducting material with those of another amazing material - graphene. The results of their research have recently been published in the journal ACS Nano.
"For our memory model, we combined the unique electronic properties of molybdenite (MoS2) with graphene's amazing conductivity," explains Andras Kis, author of the study and director of LANES.
Molybdenite and graphene have many things in common. Both are expected to surpass the physical limitations of our current silicon chips and electronic transistors. Their two-dimensional chemical structure - the fact that they're made up of a layer only a single atom thick - gives them huge potential for miniaturization and mechanical flexibility.
While graphene is one of the best conductor materials, molybdenite has very good semi-conducting properties. MoS2 has an ideal "energy band" in its electronic structure that graphene does not. This allows it to switch very easily from an "on" to an "off" state, and thus to use less electricity. Used together, the two materials can thus combine their unique advantages.
The transistor prototype developed by LANES was designed using "field effect" geometry, a bit like a sandwich. In the middle, instead of silicon, a thin layer of MoS2 channels electrons. Underneath, the electrodes transmitting electricity to the MoS2 layer are made out of graphene. And on top, the scientists also included an element made up of several layers of graphene; this 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," explains Kis. The prototype stores a bit of memory, just a like a traditional cell.
But according to the scientist, because molybdenite is thinner than silicon and thus more sensitive to charge, it offers great potential for more efficient data storage.
References:
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone