Computer Memory Improvements with Nanotechnology
Hard drives used as memory in computers consume more power and have more chance of failure than solid state memory that doesn't have any moving parts.
For that reason, solid-state computer memory has become popular on smaller computers, such as tablets. This solid-state computer memory take up less space, uses less battery power, and is less likely to be damaged if the device is dropped. Nanotechnology is being used to improve the density of solid-state computer memory. Computer memory: Applications under Development Solid-state drives store information on a type of transistor called flash. Currently, flash memory manufacturers use nano lithography techniques to build memory chips with minimum feature sizes as small as 20 n Researchers have demonstrated. The idea is that by making the transistors vertically memory cells could be stacked on top of each other, with the potential for increasing the memory density. Researchers suggest that the memory cell density could be 8 to 16 times higher than for planar transistors. Hewett Packard is developing a memory device that uses nano-wires coated with titanium dioxide. One group of these nano wires is deposited parallel to another group. When a perpendicular nano wire is laid over a group of parallel wires, at each intersection a device called a is formed. A memristor can be used as a single-component memory cell in an integrated circuit. By reducing the diameter of the nano wires, researchers believe memristor memory chips can achieve higher memory density than flash memory chips. HP is working with Hynix Semiconductor to develop memory components based upon memristors, called y (ReRAM) Magnetic nano wires made of an alloy of iron and nickel are being used to create dense memory devices. Researchers at IBM have developed a method to magnetize sections of these nano wires. By applying a current they can move the magnetized sections along the length of the wire. As the magnetized sections move along the wire, the data is read by a stationary sensor. This method is called race track memory because the data races by the stationary sensor. The plan is to grow hundreds of millions of U-shaped race track nanowires on a silicon substrate to create low-cost, high-density, and highly reliable memory chips. Another method of using nanowires is being investigated at Rice University. Researchers at Rice have found that they can use. The nanowire is sandwiched between two electrodes. By applying a voltage, you change the resistance of the nanowire at that location. Each location where the nanowire sits between two electrodes becomes a memory cell. The key to this approach is that researchers have found that they can repeatedly change the state of each memory cell between conductive and nonconductive without damaging the material’s characteristics. These researchers believe that they can achieve high memory densities by using nanowires with a diameter of about 5 nm and by stacking multiple layers of arrays of these nanowires like a triple-decker club sandwich. An alternative method being developed to increase the density of memory devices is to store information on magnetic nanoparticles. Researchers at North Carolina State University are growing arrays of magnetic nanoparticles, called, which are about 6 nm in diameter. Each dot would contain information determined by whether or not they are magnetized. Using billions of these 6-nm diameter dots in a memory device could increase memory density. |
Advantages and Disadvantages of Nanotechnology
While nanotechnology is seen as the way of the future and is a technology that a lot of people think will bring a lot of benefit for all who will be using it, nothing is ever perfect and there will always be pros and cons to everything. The advantages and disadvantages of nanotechnology can be easily enumerated, and here are some of them:
Advantages of Nanotechnology To enumerate the advantages and disadvantages of nanotechnology, let us first run through the good things this technology brings:
Disadvantages of Nanotechnology When tackling the advantages and disadvantages of nanotechnology, you will also need to point out what can be seen as the negative side of this technology:
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