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NANO-RAM ABSTRACT Nano-RAM is a proprietary computer memory technology from the company Nantero and NANOMOTOR is invented by University of bologna and California nano systems. NRAM is a type of nonvolatile random access memory based on the mechanical position of carbon nanotubes deposited on a chip-like substrate. In theory the small size of the nanotubes allows for very high density memories. Nantero also refers to it as NRAM in short, but this acronym is also commonly used as a synonym for the more common NVRAM, which refers to all nonvolatile RAM memories.Nanomotor is a molecular motor which works continuously without the consumption of fuels. It is powered by sunlight. The researches are federally funded by national science foundation and national academy of science. Carbon Nanotubes Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are a recently discovered allotrope of carbon.They take the form of cylindrical carbon molecules and have novel properties that make them potentially useful in a wide variety of applications in nanotechnology, electronics, optics, and other fields of materials science. They exhibit extraordinary strength and unique electrical properties, and are efficient conductors of heat. Inorganic nanotubes have also been synthesized. A nanotube is a member of the fullerene structural family, which also includes buckyballs. Whereas buckyballs are spherical in shape, a nanotube is cylindrical, with at least one end typically capped with a hemisphere of the buckyball structure. Page | 1

ABSTRACT - Latest Seminar Topics for Engineering …€¦ · NANO-RAM ABSTRACT Nano-RAM is a proprietary computer memory technology from the company Nantero and NANOMOTOR is invented

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Page 1: ABSTRACT - Latest Seminar Topics for Engineering …€¦ · NANO-RAM ABSTRACT Nano-RAM is a proprietary computer memory technology from the company Nantero and NANOMOTOR is invented

NANO-RAM

ABSTRACT

Nano-RAM is a proprietary computer memory technology from the company

Nantero and NANOMOTOR is invented by University of bologna and California nano

systems. NRAM is a type of nonvolatile random access memory based on the mechanical

position of carbon nanotubes deposited on a chip-like substrate. In theory the small size of

the nanotubes allows for very high density memories.

Nantero also refers to it as NRAM in short, but this acronym is also commonly used

as a synonym for the more common NVRAM, which refers to all nonvolatile RAM

memories.Nanomotor is a molecular motor which works continuously without the

consumption of fuels. It is powered by sunlight. The researches are federally funded by

national science foundation and national academy of science.

Carbon Nanotubes Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are a recently discovered allotrope of

carbon.They take the form of cylindrical carbon molecules and have novel properties that

make them potentially useful in a wide variety of applications in nanotechnology,

electronics, optics, and other fields of materials science.

They exhibit extraordinary strength and unique electrical properties, and are

efficient conductors of heat. Inorganic nanotubes have also been synthesized. A nanotube is

a member of the fullerene structural family, which also includes buckyballs. Whereas

buckyballs are spherical in shape, a nanotube is cylindrical, with at least one end typically

capped with a hemisphere of the buckyball structure.

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CHAPTER 1::INTRODUCTION

NANOTECHNOLOGY

There's an unprecedented multidisciplinary convergence of scientists

dedicated to the study of a world so small, we can't see it -- even with a light

microscope. That world is the field of nanotechnology, the realm of atoms and

nanostructures. Nanotechnology is so new, no one is really sure what will come of it.

Even so, predictions range from the ability to reproduce things like diamonds and

food to the world being devoured by self-replicating nanorobots.

In order to understand the unusual world of nanotechnology, we need to get an

idea of the units of measure involved. A centimeter is one-hundredth of a meter, a

millimeter is one-thousandth of a meter, and a micrometer is one-millionth of a meter,

but all of these are still huge compared to the nanoscale. A nanometer (nm) is one-

billionth of a meter, smaller than the wavelength of visible light and a hundred-

thousandth the width of a human hair.

As small as a nanometer is, it's still large compared to the atomic scale. An

atom has a diameter of about 0.1 nm. An atom's nucleus is much smaller -- about

0.00001 nm. Atoms are the building blocks for all matter in our universe. You and

everything around you are made of atoms. Nature has perfected the science of

manufacturing matter molecularly. For instance, our bodies are assembled in a

specific manner from millions of living cells. Cells are nature's nanomachines. At the

atomic scale, elements are at their most basic level. On the nanoscale, we can

potentially put these atoms together to make almost anything.

In a lecture called "Small Wonders: The World of Nanoscience," Nobel

Prize winner Dr. Horst Störmer said that the nanoscale is more interesting than the

atomic scale because the nanoscale is the first point where we can assemble

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something -- it's not until we start putting atoms together that we can make anything

useful.

Experts sometimes disagree about what constitutes the nanoscale, but in general,

you can think of nanotechnology dealing with anything measuring between 1 and 100 nm.

Larger than that is the microscale, and smaller than that is the atomic scale.

Nanotechnology is rapidly becoming an interdisciplinary field. Biologists,

chemists, physicists and engineers are all involved in the study of substances at the

nanoscale. Dr. Störmer hopes that the different disciplines develop a common language

and communicate with one another [source: Störmer]. Only then, he says, can we

effectively teach nanoscience since you can't understand the world of nanotechnology

without a solid background in multiple sciences.

One of the exciting and challenging aspects of the nanoscale is the role that quantum

mechanics plays in it. The rules of quantum mechanics are very different from classical

physics, which means that the behavior of substances at the nanoscale can sometimes

contradict common sense by behaving erratically. You can't walk up to a wall and

immediately teleport to the other side of it, but at the nanoscale an electron can -- it's

called electron tunneling. Substances that are insulators, meaning they can't carry an electric

charge, in bulk form might become semiconductors when reduced to the nanoscale. Melting

points can change due to an increase in surface area. Much of nanoscience requires that you

forget what you know and start learning all over again.

At the nanoscale, objects are so small that we can't see them -- even with a light

microscope. Nonscientists have to use tools like scanning tunneling microscopes or atomic

force microscopes to observe anything at the nanoscale. Scanning tunneling microscopes

use a weak electric current to probe the scanned material. Atomic force microscopes scan

surfaces with an incredibly fine tip. Both microscopes send data to computer, which can

assemble the information and project it graphically onto a monitor.

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NANO-RAM

Basically in NANO-RAM, there are two words of different technologies and are

attached together. First one is the Nanotechnology and second one is the Ramdom access

memory. We have already taken information about the nanotechnology, lets see what is

RAM. What these both contribute to the new research called NANO-RAM.

Random-access memory (RAM) is a form of computer data storage. Today, it

takes the form of integrated circuits that allow stored data to be accessed in any order (i.e.,

at random). "Random" refers to the idea that any piece of data can be returned in a constant

time, regardless of its physical location and whether or not it is related to the previous piece

of data.

By contrast, storage devices such as magnetic discs and optical discs rely on the

physical movement of the recording medium or a reading head. In these devices, the

movement takes longer than data transfer, and the retrieval time varies based on the

physical location of the next item.

Most forms of modern random access memory (RAM) are volatile storage,

including dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and static random access

memory (SRAM). Content addressable memory and dual-ported RAM are usually

implemented using volatile storage. Early volatile storage technologies include delay line

memory and William’s tube.

Volatile memory, also known as volatile storage, is computer memory that

requires power to maintain the stored information, unlike non-volatile memory which does

not require a maintained power supply. It has been less popularly known as temporary

memory.

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Nano-Ram is the new era memory which is not now yet completely discovered but it

shows a light towards the new age of electronics which totally has a new look and working

strategies. It now travels from micrometer to nanometer with a great working capabilities

and strengths.

Nano-RAM is a proprietary computer memory technology from the company

Nantero and NANOMOTOR is invented by University of bologna and California nano

systems. RAM is a type of nonvolatile random access memory based on the mechanical

position of carbon nanotubes deposited on a chip-like substrate. In theory the small size of

the nanotubes allows for very high density memories. Nantero also refers to it as NRAM in

short, but this acronym is also commonly used as a synonym for the more common

NVRAM, which refers to all nonvolatile RAM memories. Nanomotor is a molecular motor

which works continuously without the consumption of fuels. It is powered by sunlight. The

research is federally funded by national science foundation and national academy of

science.

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CARBON NANOTUBES

The term nanotubes is normally used to refer to the carbon nanotubes, which has

received enormous attention from researchers over the last few years and promises, along

with close relatives such as the nanohorn, a host of interesting applications. There are many

others types of nanotubes, from various inorganic kinds such as, those made from boron

nitride, to organic ones, such as those made from self-assembling cyclic peptides (proteins

components) or from naturally occurring heat shock proteins(extracted from bacteria that

thrive in extreme environments). However, carbon nanotubes excites the most interest,

promise the greatest variety of application and currently appear to have by far the highest

commercial potential.

Carbon nanotubes were discovered in 1991 by Sumio Iijima of NEC and are

effectively long, thin cylinders of graphite, which you wiil be familiar with as the material

in a pencil or as the basis of some lubricants. Graphite is made up of layers of carbon atoms

arranged in a hexagonal lattice, like chicken wire. Though the chicken wire structure itself

is very strong, the layers themselves sure not chemically bonded to each other but held

together by weak forces called Van der Waals. It is the sliding across each other of these

layers that gives graphite its lubricating qualities and makes the mark on a piece of paper as

you draw your pencil over it.

Now imagine taking one of these sheets of chicken wire and rolling it up into a

cylinder and joining the loose wore ends. The result is a tube that was once described by

Richard Smalley (who shared the Nobel Prize for the discovery of a related form of carbon

called buckminsterfullerene) as

“In one direction….the strongest damn thing you’ll ever make in this universe”. In

addition to their remarkable strength, this is usually quoted a 100 times that of steel at one-

sixth of the weight (this is tensile strength-the ability to withstand a stretching force without

breaking), carbon nanotubes have shown a surprising array of other properties. They can

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conduct heat as efficiently as diamond, conduct electricity as efficiently as copper, yet also

be semiconducting (like the materials that make up the chips in our computers). They can

produce streams of electrons very efficiently (field emission), which can be used to create

light in displays for televisions or computers, or even in domestic lighting, and they can

enhance the fluorescence of materials they are close to. Their electrical properties can be

made to change in the presence can act like miniature springs and they can even be stuffed

with other material. Nanotubes and their variants hold promise for storing fuels such as

hydrogen or methanol for use in fuel cells and they make good support for catalysts.

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CHAPTER 2::CARBON NANOTUBES

STRUCTURE OF CARBON

NANOTUBES

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs; also known as buckytubes) are allotropes of carbon with

a cylindrical nanostructure. Nanotubes have been constructed with length-to-diameter ratio

of up to 132,000,000:1] which is significantly larger than any other material. These

cylindrical carbon molecules have novel properties that make them potentially useful in

many applications in nanotechnology, electronics, optics and other fields of materials

science, as well as potential uses in architectural fields. They exhibit extraordinary strength

and unique electrical properties, and are efficient thermal conductors.

The nature of the bonding of a nanotube is described by applied quantum chemistry,

specifically, orbital hybridization. The chemical bonding of nanotubes is composed entirely

of sp2 bonds, similar to those of graphite. This bonding structure, which is stronger than

the sp3 bonds found in diamonds, provides the molecules with their unique strength.

Nanotubes naturally align themselves into "ropes" held together by Van der Waals forces.

Since carbon nanotubes were discovered on accident by Sumio Iijima in 1991

during another experiment, hundreds of studies have been started and dedicated to

achieving a better understanding of the structure of carbon nanotubes. Although the

structure of carbon nanotubes has been extensively studied by researchers and scientists in a

wide variety of fields including materials science, architecture, agriculture and engineering,

the full implications of this tiny microscopic wonder are still locked away in its unique

natural creation, varied structural components and its ability to be both immensely flexible

as well as incredibly strong.

Carbon comes in many forms. Two well-known forms of carbon are graphite and

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diamond. Graphite and diamond have drastically different mechanical properties such as

hardness. Diamond is one of the hardest materials known to man. It can cut through glass.

Graphite, on the other hand, is a very soft material, used in pencil lead.

The difference in properties is due to the structure of the atoms and their bonds in

the material, also known as the materials crystal

structure. Graphite is made up of stacked sheets of

hexagons with a carbon atom at each corner of the

hexagon, and looks much like chicken wire. These

sheets are stacked one on top of the other, but

easily slip and slide. Diamond has a tetragonal

crystal structure with very few slip planes.

Carbon nanotubes are a fairly new form of

carbon. A carbon nanotube structure looks

like sheets of graphite that have been rolled up to

form small tubes. This small

difference in structure leads to a much stronger,

stiffer material. Carbon nanotubes have a diameter of 1 to 10 nanometers, yet they are 50

times stronger than steel.

The special nature of carbon combines with the molecular perfection of buckytubes

(single-wall carbon nanotubes) to endow them with exceptionally high material properties such

as electrical and thermal conductivity, strength, stiffness, and toughness. No other element in the

periodic table bonds to itself in an extended network with the strength of the carbon-carbon

bond. The delocalised pi-electron donated by each atom is free to move about the entire

structure, rather than stay home with its donor atom, giving rise to the first molecule with

metallic-type electrical conductivity. The high-frequency carbon-carbon bond vibrations provide

an intrinsic thermal conductivity higher than even diamond.

In most materials, however, the actual observed material properties - strength, electrical

conductivity, etc. - are degraded very substantially by the occurrence of defects in their structure.

For example, high strength steel typically fails at about 1% of its theoretical breaking strength.

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Buckytubes, however, achieve values very close to their theoretical limits because of their

perfection of structure - their molecular perfection. This aspect is part of the unique story of

buckytubes.

Buckytubes are an example of true nanotechnology: only a nanometer in diameter, but molecules

that can be manipulated chemically and physically. They open incredible applications in

materials, electronics, chemical processing and energy management.

Basic Structure

Buck tubes are single-wall carbon nanotubes, in

which a single layer of graphite - graphene - is rolled

up into a seamless tube. Graphene consists of a

hexagonal structure like chicken wire. If you imagine

rolling up graphene or chicken wire into a seamless

tube, this can be accomplished in various ways. For

example, carbon-carbon bonds (the wires in chicken

wire) can be parallel or perpendicular to the tube axis,

resulting in a tube where the hexagons circle the tube

like a belt, but are oriented differently. Alternatively, the carbon-carbon bonds need not be

either parallel or perpendicular, in which case the hexagons will spiral around the tube with a

pitch depending on how the tube is wrapped. Above figure illustrates these point.

Carbon nanotubes appear to be sheets of graphite cells that have been mended together to

look almost like a latticework fence and then rolled up in a tube shape. Although this is a simple

explanation for the look of the structure of carbon nanotubes, this is not how carbon nanotubes

are created, nor does it explain their immense strength or other incredible structural abilities.

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CLASSIFICATION OF CARBON NANOTUBES

One of the major

classifications of carbon

nanotubes is into singled-

walled varieties (SWNT’s) which have a single cylinder wall and multi-walled varieties

(MWNT’s) which have cylinders within cylinders.

The length of both type vary greatly, depending upon on the way they are made and

are generally nanoscopic rather than microscopic i.e. greater than 100 micrometers. The

aspect ratio (length divided by diameter) is typically greater than100 and can be up to

10,000, but recently even this was made to look small. IN May 2002, SWNT strand were

made in which the SWNT’s were claimed to be as long as 20 cm. Even more recently, the

same group has made strand of SWNT’s 160cm long, but the precise make up of these

strand has not yet been made clear. A group in china has found, purely by accident that

packs of relatively short carbon nanotubes can be drawn out into a bundle of fibers, making

a thread only 0.2 mm in diameter but up to 30 cm long. The joins between the nanotubes in

this thread represent a weakness but heating the thread has been found to increase the

strength significantly, presumably through some sort of fusing of the individual tubes.

SINGLE-WALLED CARBON NANOTUBES (SWNT’S)

Single-wall nanotubes (SWNT) are tubes of graphite that are normally capped at

the ends. They have a single cylindrical wall. The structure of a SWNT can be visualized

as a layer of graphite, a single atom thick, called graphene, which is rolled into a seamless

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cylinder.Most SWNT typically have a diameter of

close to 1 nm. The tube length, however, can be

many thousands of times longer.

SWNT are more pliable yet harder to make

than MWNT. They can be twisted, flattened, and

bent into small circles or around sharp bends

without breaking. SWNT have unique electronic

and mechanical properties which can be used in numerous applications, such as field-

emission displays, nanocomposite materials, nanosensors, and logic elements. These

materials are on the leading-edge of electronic fabrication, and are expected to play a

major role in the next generation of miniaturized electronics.

The ability of single-walled carbon nanotubes to bend at the extreme angle

observed in figure 1opened the possibility that the proposed structure of SWNTs was not

accurate since it is suspicious that a cylinder composed of a closed graphitic sheet could

bend that far without visible damage to the tube.

SWNT’s can be conducting like metal or semiconducting and taking into account

their small diameter and their huge aspect ratio, SWNT’s are close to an ideal one

dimensional system. The general composition of SWNT’s

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COMPOSITION OF SWNTs

Average outside diameter: 1.1 nm

Length: 5-30 mm

Components Contents (%)

C 96.30

Al 0.08

Cl 0.41

Co 2.91

S 0.29

Analysis Method: Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy

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MULTI-WALLED CARBON NANOTUBES (MWNT’s)

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes are basically concentric cylindrical

graphite tubes. In these more complex structures, the different

SWNT’s that form the MWNT may have quite different structures

by length and chirality). MWNT’s are typically 100 times longer

than they are wide and have outer diameter mostly in the tens of nanometer. Although it is

easier to produce significant quantities of MWNT’s than SWNTs, their structures are less

well understood than SWNT because of their greater complexity and variety. Multitudes of

exotic shapes and arrangement, often with imaginative names such as bamboo-trunks, sea

urchins etc.

Many of the nanotube application now being considered or put into practice involve

multi-walled nanotubes, because they are easier to produce in large quantities at a

reasonable price and have been available in decent amount for much longer than SWNTs.

They involve typically 8 to 15 walls and around 19 nanometers wide and 10 micrometer

long. Many companies are moving into this space, notably formidable players like Mitsui,

with plans to produce similar types of MWNT in hundred of tons a year, a quantity that is

greater but not hugely so that the current production of Hyperion Catalysis. This is an

indication that even these less impressive and exotic nanotubes hold promise of

representing a sizable market in the near future. The composition of MWNT’s is as shown

in table:

COMPOSITION OF MWNTs

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Outside diameter: ≤8 nm

Inside diameter: 2-5 nm

Length: 10-30 µm

Components Contents (%)

C 97.44

Al 0.19

Cl 1.03

Co 1.10

S 0.24

Analysis Method: Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy

BENEFITS OF CARBON NANOTUBES

The underlying excitement over CNTs comes from their wide range of behaviors

and properties. By learning about the properties of CNTs, it is possible to imagine

enormous possibilities for their application.

Strength and Elasticity :

CNTs can be really strong. Their tensile strength, a measure of the amount of force

which a specimen can withstand before tearing, is approximately 100 times greater than that

of steel. Strength of CNTs results from the covalent sp² bonds formed between the

individual carbon atoms. This bond is stronger than the sp3 bond in diamonds. CNTs are

held together by Van der Waals forces, forming a rope-like structure [10]. Another reason

why they are so strong is because they are just one large molecule. Unlike other materials,

carbon nanotubes do not have weak-spot, such as steel. CNTs also have a high elastic

modulus, a measure of the material’s tendency to deform elastically when a force is applied

to it.

Electrical and Magnetic:

Metallic-like CNTs are better conductors than metals. The only other materials that

can conduct better than CNTs are superconductors, which theoretically have zero electrical

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resistance. It has also been observed that, under the influence of a large magnetic field, the

band gap of semi-conducting CNTs can be slightly lowered.

Optical:

A defect-free carbon nanotube is like an optical fiber. Fibers with large cores are

called multi-mode fibers because several wavelengths (or eigenmodes) are allowed to

propagate, usually at different speeds, along the fiber. For data transmission, so-called

single-mode fibers are preferred because they allow for higher data rates. A single-wall

nanotube is almost a single-mode fiber for electrons. Theory predicts the existence of two

propagating eigenmodes for a single-wall nanotube, independent of its diameter.

Chemical:

The chemical reactivity of a CNT is, compared with a graphene sheet, enhanced as a

direct result of the curvature of the CNT surface. Carbon nanotube reactivity is directly

related to the pi-orbital mismatch caused by an increased curvature. Therefore, a distinction

must be made between the sidewall and the end caps of a nanotube. For the same reason, a

smaller nanotube diameter results in increased reactivity. Covalent chemical modification of

either sidewalls or end caps has been shown to be possible

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CHAPTER 3:: NANO-RAM

STRUCTURE OF NANO-RAM

Nano-RAM is a proprietary computer memory technology from the company

Nantero and NANOMOTOR is invented by University of bologna and California nano

systems. RAM is a type of nonvolatile random access memory based on the mechanical

position of carbon nanotubes deposited on a chip-like substrate. In theory the small size of

the nanotubes allows for very high density memories. Nantero also refers to it as NRAM in

short, but this acronym is also commonly used as a synonym for the more common

NVRAM, which refers to all nonvolatile RAM memories. Nanomotor is a molecular motor

which works continuously without the consumption of fuels. It is powered by sunlight. The

researches are federally funded by national science

foundation and national academy of science.

The design is quite simple. Nanotubes can serve

as individually addressable electromechanical

switches arrayed across the surface of a microchip,

storing hundreds of gigabits of information

may be even a terabit. An electric field applied to

nanotubes would cause it to flex downward

into depression etched onto the chip’s surface, where it

would contact rather another nanotube or touch a

metallic electrode. Once bent, the nanotubes can remain that way, including when the

power is turned off, allowing for non-volatile operation. Vanderwaals forces, which are

weak

molecular forces of attractions, would hold the switch in place until application of fields of

different polarity causes the nanotube to return to its straightened position.

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This nano electromechanical memory, called NRAM, is a memory with actual

moving parts, with dimensions measured in nanometers. Its carbon nanotube based

technology makes advantage of vaanderwaals force to create basic on off junctions of a bit.

Vaanderwaals forces interaction between atoms

that enable noncovalant binding. They rely on

electron attractions that arise only at nano scale

levels as a force to be reckoned with. The

company is using this property in its design to

integrate nanoscale material property with

established cmos fabrication technique.

Nantero's technology is based on a

well-known effect in carbon nanotubes where crossed nanotubes on a flat surface can either

be touching or slightly separated in the vertical direction (normal to the substrate) due

to Van der Waal's interactions. In Nantero's technology, each NRAM "cell" consists of a

number of nanotubes suspended on insulating "lands" over a metal electrode. At rest the

nanotubes lie above the electrode "in the air", about 13 nm above it in the current versions,

stretched between the two lands. A small dot of gold is deposited on top of the nanotubes on

one of the lands, providing an electrical connection, or terminal. A second electrode lies

below the surface, about 100 nm away.

NRAMs are built by depositing masses of nanotubes on a pre-fabricated chip

containing rows of bar-shaped electrodes with the slightly taller insulating layers between

them. Tubes in the "wrong" location are then removed, and the gold terminals deposited

on top. Any number of methods can be used to select a single cell for writing, for instance

the second set of electrodes can be run in the opposite direction, forming a grid, or they

can be selected by adding voltage to the terminals as well, meaning that only those

selected cells have a total voltage high enough to cause the flip.

Currently the method of removing the unwanted nanotubes makes the system

impractical. The accuracy and size of the epitaxial machinery is considerably "larger" that

the cell size otherwise possible. Existing experimental cells have very low densities

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compared to existing systems, some new method of construction will have to be

introduced in order to make the system practical.

As we see the structure and the construction of the Nano-Ram, now let study how

the data is being stored in ths Nano-Ram.

STORAGE IN NANO-RAM

Nantero has created multiple prototype devices, including an array of ten billion

suspended nano tube junctions on a single silicon wafer. NRAM technology will achieve

very high memory densities: at least 10-100 times our current best. Nantero's design for

NRAM™ involves the use of suspended nanotube junctions as memory bits, with the "up"

position representing bit zero (Off) and the "down" position representing bit one (On).

Bits are switched between states through the application of

electrical fields. The wafer (A small adhesive disk of paste) was

produced using only standard semiconductor processes, maximizing

compatibility with existing semiconductor factories.

NRAM works by balancing the on ridges of silicon. Under

differing electric charges, the tubes can be physically swung into one

or two positions representing one and zeros. Because the tubes are

very small-under a thousands of time-this movement is very fast and

needs very little power, and because the tubes are a thousand times

conductive as copper it is very to sense to read back the data. Once in

position the tubes stay there until a signal resets them.

The bit itself is not stored in the nano tubes, but rather is stored as the position of the

nanotube. Up is bit 0 and down is bit 1.Bits are switched between the states by the

application of the electric field.

The technology work by changing the charge placed on a latticework of crossed

nanotube. By altering the charges, engineers can cause the tubes to bind together or

separate, creating ones and zeros that form the basis of computer memory. If we have two

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nano tubes perpendicular to each other one is positive and other negative, they will bend

together and touch. If we have two similar charges they will repel. These two positions are

used to store one and zero. The chip will stay in the same state until

you make another change in the electric field. So when you turn the

computer off, it doesn't erase the memory .We can keep all the data

in the NRAM and gives your computer an instant boot.

What causes this to act as a memory is that the two positions

of the nanotubes are both stable. In the off position the mechanical

strain on the tubes is low, so they will naturally remain in this

position and continue to read "0". When the tubes are pulled into

contact with the upper electrode a new force, the tiny Van der Waals

force, comes into play and attracts the tubes enough to overcome the

mechanical strain. Once in this position the tubes will again happily

remain there and continue to read "1". These positions are fairly

resistant to outside interference like radiation that can erase or flip memory in a

conventional DRAM.

NRAMs are built by depositing masses of nanotubes on a pre-fabricated chip

containing rows of bar-shaped electrodes with the slightly taller insulating layers between

them. Tubes in the "wrong" location are then removed, and the gold terminals deposited on

top. Any number of methods can be used to select a single cell for writing, for instance the

second set of electrodes

can be run in the opposite direction, forming a grid, or they can be selected by adding

voltage to

the terminals as well, meaning that only those selected cells have a total voltage high

enough to

cause the flip.

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ADVANTAGES OF NANO-RAM

Permanently nonvolatile

High speed similar to DRAM/SRAM

High density similar to DRAM

Unlimited lifetime

Low power consumption

Data storage

CMOS-compatible manufacturing process

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APPLICATIONS AND LIMITATIONS

APPLICATIONS:

Computer and Laptops

(Enabling instant –on performance, with no for boot up)

Mobile devices

(Faster storage of more data for PDA’s and handhelds)

Embedded memory

(More powerful microprocessor, microcontroller, other logic device)

High speed network serve

Faster and Denser

LIMITATIONS:

Over supply of DRAM

Is relatively costly

NRAM is still in research phase

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CONCLUSION

This paper gives an over-view of application of nanotechnology in field of electronics.

Moore’s law has held true for almost 40 years now, but the current lithographic technology

has physical limits when it comes to making things smaller and the semiconductor industry

which often refers to the collection of these as the “red brick wall” thinks that the wall will

be hit in around fifteen years. At the point a new technology will have to take over and

nanotechnology offers a variety of potentially viable options and carbon nanotube are one

of the most commonly mentioned building blocks of nanotechnology.We could say that the

prospects of nanotechnology are very bright.Nanotechnology will be an undeniable force in

near future. Beginning &usage of NRAM will give rise to instant ON computers.

Nonvolatile memories will enable instant booting of computers. Large memories can be

building with nanotube technology. Nonvolatile memories offer much better performance

combined with data storage when the power is turned OFF.

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REFERENCES

Carbon Nanotube–Based Nonvolatile Random Access Memory for Molecular

Computing: Thomas Rueckes, Kyoungha Kim, Ernesto Joselevich, Greg Y. Tseng,

Chin-Li Cheung, Charles M. Lieber

Nano Engineered Memory solutions-IEEE journal.

www.nantero.com/tech.html

10 Emerging technologies – MIT technology review

www.worldlingo.com/ma/enwiki/en/Nano-RAM

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