The discrete nature of memory storage typically lends itself to lattice-like structures. But doing away with the lattice may confer flexibility without sacrificing memory density. Jun Young Chung and colleagues have taken this approach to build a programmable device from a thin elastic shell — a read–write memory that is akin to a kind of lattice-free Braille.
Inspiration for the device came from the idea that a rubber hemisphere can find stability when it’s turned inside out. By forcing a long thin elastic sheet to arch between parallel rails and then applying an axial compressive strain, Chung et al. found that they could use a stylus to form localized dimples that persisted when the force was removed. The team succeeded in programming multiple non-interacting dimples that could be simply erased by relaxing the axial compression. And for higher strains, they found that they could even programme dimple doublets.
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Klopper, A. Elastic bits. Nature Phys 14, 776 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-018-0254-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41567-018-0254-1