Changing Phases With Less Energy (1 of 9) (IMAGE)

American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)

Changing Phases With Less Energy (1 of 9)

Caption

This image represents a schematic of individual memory bits with carbon nanotube electrodes, in the “on” state. The bit is made up of phase-change material (PCM) and bit dimensions are of the order ~10 nm. The carbon nanotube diameters are ~2 nm. The programming current of such a memory bit configuration is one hundred times lower than the present state of the art, and the programming energy per bit can be as low as one femtojoule. This image relates to an article that appeared in the March 10, 2011, issue of Science Express, published by AAAS. The study, by Dr. Feng Xiong, at University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in Urbana-Champaign, Ill., and colleagues was titled, "Low Power Switching of Phase Change Materials with Carbon Nanotube Electrodes."

Credit

Image courtesy of Feng Xiong and Alex Jerez

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