A research team led by James M. Tour has developed new, flexible, transparent memory chips for the electronics industry.
The chips can be easily folded like a paper and can withstand 1,000°F and other aggressive conditions. They can be used in the development of innovative memory devices for use in computers, cell phones and keychain drives. Tour has demonstrated the novel memory chips at the American Chemical Society’s 243rd National Meeting & Exposition.
The chips feature a unique three-dimensional (3-D) internal architecture, which enables the storage of additional gigabytes of data in less space. The 3-D memory chips include a layer of graphene material over silicon oxide, which acts as an insulator in electronic products. Graphene is the strongest and thinnest material made of a layer of carbon atoms. Rice University researchers assumed that the graphene contributes to the remarkable memory capacity of the chips. Later, they found out that it was the silicon oxide surface that was responsible for creating the memories. The chips are ideal alternatives to flash memory devices.
The graphene-based chips can be used in various applications, including spacecraft and military. The chips have been embedded in the latest Russian Progress 44 cargo spacecraft project in 2011. However, the spaceship crashed over Siberia. Tour’s team is hoping to send the chips on a space mission planned in July 2012 in order to observe the capability of the memory in the high-radiation environment.
Touch screens that are presently available are made from glass and indium tin oxide, which are fragile and easily breakable. Therefore, plastic made of the new memory chips can be an ideal replacement for them. Tour is currently discussing with manufacturers to implant the chips into electronic products.
Source: http://portal.acs.org/