On the Scaling of Electronic
Charge-Storing Memory Down to the Size of Molecules
November 2001
Jacob S. Burnim, The MITRE Corporation
ABSTRACT
This paper presents an analysis of the performance impact of scaling
present-day micrometer-scale,
charge-storing random-access memory (RAM) down to the scale of proposed
molecular electronic
memory. As a part of this analysis, the likely performance is determined
for arrays of molecular-scale
memory 10,000 to 100,000 times denser than present-day memory. A combination
of classical and
quantum mechanical methods are employed to calculate the properties
of nanometer-scale devices and
memory systems. These calculations suggest that quantum mechanics and
other small-scale effects should
decrease the capacitance and increase the resistance of molecular-scale
circuit components. However,
these trends are not pronounced enough to prevent the operation of charge-storing
memory on that scale.
Some forms of molecular-scale memory built entirely from existing nanometer-scale
devices should be able
to function nearly as fast as present-day memory.
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