Design of two-state nano-memory device from carbon nanotube encapsulating fullerene using graphene nanoribbon

초록

We present an archival memory that stores bits of data according to the different positions of a fullerene shuttle within a carbon nanotube on a graphene nanoribbon substrate. Simulations of the molecular dynamics of the system involved an encapsulated C<inf>60</inf> fullerene and a carbon nanotube on a graphene nanoribbon. The attractive vdW forces between the carbon nanotube and the graphene nanoribbon induced a slight deformation in the carbon nanotube, and this deformation created energy barriers against the motion of the C<inf>60</inf> fullerene along the axis of the carbon nanotube. Finally, bistable potential wells were generated, and the encapsulated C<inf>60</inf> fullerene could be shuttled between these bistable positions along the carbon nanotube by applying an alternating force field. The C<inf>60</inf> fullerene could retain its position on the carbon nanotube without an external force field, so the proposed system can function as a nonvolatile memory device. In future work, the switching speed, the applied force field, the active region, the length of the carbon nanotube, and the width of the graphene nanoribbon should be considered to improve the efficacy of the system. © © 2016 American Scientific Publishers. All rights reserved.

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