1. Nanomaterials Laboratories, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan
2. ICORP-SORST/Japan Science and Technology Agency, 4-1-8 Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan
3. RIKEN, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan

Correspondence to: T. Hasegawa^1,2,3 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to T.H. (Email: HASEGAWA.Tsuyoshi@nims.go.jp).

Abstract

A large variety of nanometre-scale devices have been investigated in recent years^{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7} that could overcome the physical and economic limitations of current semiconductor devices⁸. To be of technological interest, the energy consumption and fabrication cost of these 'nanodevices' need to be low. Here we report a new type of nanodevice, a quantized conductance atomic switch (QCAS), which satisfies these requirements. The QCAS works by controlling the formation and annihilation of an atomic bridge at the crossing point between two electrodes. The wires are spaced approximately 1 nm apart, and one of the two is a solid electrolyte wire from which the atomic bridges are formed. We demonstrate that such a QCAS can switch between 'on' and 'off' states at room temperature and in air at a frequency of 1 MHz and at a small operating voltage (600 mV). Basic logic circuits are also easily fabricated by crossing solid electrolyte wires with metal electrodes.

1. Nanomaterials Laboratories, National Institute for Materials Science, 1-1 Namiki, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0044, Japan
2. ICORP-SORST/Japan Science and Technology Agency, 4-1-8 Honcho, Kawaguchi, Saitama 332-0012, Japan
3. RIKEN, 2-1 Hirosawa, Wako, Saitama 351-0198, Japan

Correspondence to: T. Hasegawa^1,2,3 Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to T.H. (Email: HASEGAWA.Tsuyoshi@nims.go.jp).

MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS

These links to content published by NPG are automatically generated.