Molecular Memory: Carbon-nanotube device stores data in molecules

If all goes according to some researchers’ plans, organic molecules will replace silicon as the workhorses in electronic devices. Edging toward that goal, chemists at the University of California, Los Angeles have fabricated a memory device in which data are stored in organic molecules connected to a carbon nanotube.

INFO JUNCTION. Sandwiched between a metal electrode (silver) and a perpendicular carbon nanotube (black roll), catenane molecules (blue and red) change configuration when a voltage is applied.