Nanoscale variable resistor/electromechanical transistor

US9406789B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignees

• NEW YORK UNIVERSITY · US
• Arizona Board of Regents on Behalf of the University of Arizona · US

Inventors

• Jerome Alexandre Bürki · Pleasant Hill, US
• Charles Allen Stafford · Tucson, US
• Daniel L. Stein · New York, US

Key dates

• Filing date: May 28, 2013
• Grant date: Aug 2, 2016
• Expiry date: May 28, 2033

Classification

• Technology area (CPC B): Performing Operations; Transporting
• CPC primary: B82Y99/00
• WIPO field: Micro-structural and nano-technology
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

A nanoscale variable resistor including a metal nanowire as an active element, a dielectric, and a gate. By selective application of a gate voltage, stochastic transitions between different conducting states, and even length, of the nanowire can be induced and with a switching time as fast as picoseconds. With an appropriate choice of dielectric, the transconductance of the device, which may also be considered an “electromechanical transistor,” is shown to significantly exceed the conductance quantum G0=2e2/h.