Single electron memory developed

17 Jun 2002

A room-temperature single-electron memory has been developed at the University of Minnesota. The single-electron arrangement is orders of magnitude smaller than the kind of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) transistor used in conventional computer memories, promising even faster response, less power consumption, and greater component density than MOS transisitors.

In the tiny Minnesota transistor a bit of information is stored in the form of a single electron which, resident on a dot of silicon (acting as a "floating gate"), has the power to influence the current flow in a silicon channel connecting the transistor's source and drain, according to an article in the recent edition of Science.