Electronic memory chips may soon gain the ability to bend and twist as a result of work by engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

As reported in the July 2009 issue of IEEE Electron Device Letters, the engineers have found a way to build a flexible memory component out of inexpensive, readily available materials.

Electronic components that can flex without breaking are coveted by portable device manufacturers for many reasons-and not just because people have a tendency to drop their mp3 players. Small medical sensors that can be worn on the skin to monitor vital signs such as heart rate or blood sugar could benefit patients with conditions that require constant maintenance, for example. Though some flexible components exist, creating flexible memory has been a technical barrier, according to NIST researchers.

Hunting for a solution, the researchers took polymer sheets—the sort that transparencies for overhead projectors are made from-and experimented with depositing a thin film of titanium dioxide, an ingredient in sunscreen, on their surfaces.

Instead of using expensive equipment to deposit the titanium dioxide as is traditionally done, the material was deposited by a sol gel process, which consists of spinning the material in liquid form and letting it set, like making gelatin. By adding electrical contacts, the team created a flexible memory switch that operates on less than 10 volts, maintains its memory when power is lost, and still functions after being flexed more than 4,000 times.

"Electronic memory chips may soon gain the ability to bend and twist like this one. (Credit: NIST)"

Source: National Institute of Standards and Technology