Nanowire Memory

Apparantly nanowire memory refers to a new type of transistor utilizing germanium/antimony/nickle/iron/tellurium/gold/silicon mixes to form nano tubes. While it is still in the development stage, if it becomes feasible could replace all existing forms of memory in the modern computer. it would be more stable than hardrives for mass storages and faster than cache or ram. (theoretically)

Germanium/sillicon core/shell nanowire claimed to be better than current mosfet.
http://nanotechweb.org/cws/article/tech/24960

- scaled transconductance: 3.3 mS/um, mosfet: 11-32 mS/um
- on-current: 2.1 mA/um (cannot find metrics for mosfets; typically leakage current is a few mA per die)
- hole mobility: 730 cm^2/Vs  <-- 10x higher than mosfet. "claimed"
- better (lower?) switch delay than length-dependant scaling of planar silicon mosfets

Racetrack memory to replace current hardrives.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101115090802.htm

- nickel-iron nanowire
- no mechanical movement
- data moved to read or write head via spin polarized current
- theorized to have access times 100,000 faster than current hardrives
    ^ as far as i could tell is faster than current solid state drives and ram.
- individual bits determined by domain walls with magnetic vorticies
- consumes 1/300th the energy of ram while memory is idling (a few mW vs 300ish mW)
-  fast & non-volatile.

Nanowire memory that uses trits.
http://phys.org/news134214217.html

- germanium-tellurium nanowires
    ^ germanium/antimony/tellurium core with germanium telluride shell
- heated to change structure from crystalline to amorphous
    ^ two of the states when both shell and core are same state
- third state is when core and shell are in different states.

Bottom up method to "grow" nanowires instead of top down lithographic methods
http://www.iom3.org/news/next-generation-nanowire-memory-devices

- powdered germanium, antimony and tellurium heated to vapor
- vapors ran over chunk of silicon studded with gold nanoparticles
- as the vapor cools gold acts as catalyst forming wires
- current problem: grow in a controllable fashion, size shape and position.

Here's a list of related articles.
http://gizmodo.com/nanowire/
http://gizmodo.com/5021737/scientists-build-nanowire-memory-that-uses-trits-not-bits
http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=05741715&tag=1
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/422271/positioning-bits-in-nanowire-memory/
http://www.iom3.org/news/next-generation-nanowire-memory-devices
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110525110821.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/06/120621101814.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110120111025.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101115090802.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090403103950.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071112105115.htm