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Electrostatic Switching in Vertically Oriented Nanotubes for Nonvolatile Memory Applications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 January 2011

Anupama B. Kaul
Affiliation:
anupama.b.kaul@jpl.nasa.govanu_bhat_kaul@yahoo.com, Jet Propulsion Labs, California Institute of Tech., 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, California, 91109-8099, United States, 818-393-7186
Paul Khan
Affiliation:
paulkhan1@yahoo.com, Jet Propulsion Labs, Pasadena, California, United States
Andrew T. Jennings
Affiliation:
jennings@caltech.edu, California Institute of Technology, Division of Applied Science and Engineering, Pasadena, California, United States
Julia Greer
Affiliation:
jrgreer@caltech.edu, California Institute of Technology, Materials Science, Pasadena, California, United States
Krikor G. Megerian
Affiliation:
Krikor.g.megerian@jpl.nasa.gov, Jet Propulsion Labs, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, United States
Paul von Allmen
Affiliation:
Paul.A.Vonallmen@jpl.nasa.gov, Jet Propulsion Labs, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, United States
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Abstract

We have demonstrated electrostatic switching in vertically oriented nanotubes or nanofibers, where a nanoprobe was used as the actuating electrode inside an SEM. When the nanoprobe was manipulated to be in close proximity to a single tube, switching voltages between 10 V – 40 V were observed, depending on the geometrical parameters. The turn-on transitions appeared to be much sharper than the turn-off transitions which were limited by the tube-to-probe contact resistances. In many cases, stiction forces at these dimensions were dominant, since the tube appeared stuck to the probe even after the voltage returned to 0 V, suggesting that such structures are promising for nonvolatile memory applications. The stiction effects, to some extent, can be adjusted by engineering the switch geometry appropriately. Nanoscale mechanical measurements were also conducted on the tubes using a custom-built nanoindentor inside an SEM, from which preliminary material parameters, such as the elastic modulus, were extracted. The mechanical measurements also revealed that the tubes appear to be well adhered to the substrate. The material parameters gathered from the mechanical measurements were then used in developing an electrostatic model of the switch using a commercially available finite-element simulator. The calculated pull-in voltages appeared to be in agreement to the experimentally obtained switching voltages to first order.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2009

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