According to Dr. James M. Tour, a synthetic organic chemist at Houston’s Rice University, flash memory devices can only be built smaller for another six to seven years – at that point, they will reach a technological barrier. Already, however, Tour and his colleagues have developed a new type of memory chip, which they believe could replace flash in thumb drives, smartphones and computers. Not only does their chip allow more data to be stored in a given space, but it can also be folded like paper, withstand temperatures of up to 1,000ºF (538ºC), and is transparent – this means that devices’ screens could also serve as their memory.
The first prototypes of the new chip incorporated a layer of graphene or other carbon-based material, deposited on top of a supposedly inert insulating layer of silicon oxide. After some experimentation, however, it was discovered that the silicon oxide was actually the active material – the graphene isn’t even required.The chips are configured with two terminals per bit of information, while standard chips utilize three. This feature allows the chip’s components to be arranged in a three-dimensional structure, as opposed to traditional two-dimensional chips, allowing for more data storage within the same footprint.
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