Gecko's Feet Power New RAM Chips

An anonymous reader writes "IT Week has a story about carbon nanotubes being used to make memory chips. As the name suggests, carbon nanotubes are extremely small cylinders of carbon, and they have some similar properties to the extremely fine hairs on the feet of Geckos that enable the lizards to climb walls and hang from ceilings. The new chips work faster than current technologies, and hold their data without needing a power source." We've previously discussed this technology.

Comments

NOT a Misleading Title

[G4from128k]

If you RTFA, you'll see that the "gecko phenomenon" is the basis for the device's retention of memory when the power is off. The bits are encoded by whether the tubules are erect (open circuit) or bent-over and touching the substrate (closed circuit). When the power is removed, the same van der Waals forces that underpin gecko toes keeps the fiber in the down position.