Professor Kijung Yong (CE) and his research team succeeded in developing a nonvolatile memory cell which is waterproof and maintains information without power supply. Nonvolatile memory cells could be used in production of waterproof computers and smart phones by using nanotechnology.
Memory cells currently used are vulnerable to water. To solve this problem, the research team synthesized the tungsten oxide semiconductor using natural effects called the Lotus Effect, an imitation of lotus leaves, which could wash the dust off the surface without wetting it. In addition, they developed resistive RAM cell (RRAM) by chemically laminating the surface with a monomolecular film of selenium. This research is especially innovative because the memory cell worked normally in water without additional processings.
Prof Yong emphasized, “This research means that waterpr- oof characteristics are improved thr- ough convergence of nanotechnology and biom metics. Especially, this de-veloped technolo- gy could make the best use of developing waterproof com- puters and smart phones.”
The research result is titled, “Resistive switching WOx-Au core-shell nanowires with unexpected nonwetting stability even when submerged under water,” and it was published in Advanced Materials, the top weekly journal in materials science.