Memory-storing fibre created from nanowires

26 Sep 2011

A team at the Centre for Nanotechnology at NASA Ames Research Centre has developed a new flexible memory fabric, using copper wires.

At each stitch along the fabric, a nanoscale dab of platinum is placed between the fibres, woven from interlocking strands of copper and copper-oxide wires. This structure at each crossing forms a resistive memory circuit. These fibres serve as a storage medium as they can change from insulator to conductor by applying a voltage. In the proof-of-concept design, the nanowires were one millimetre thick, reports EurekAlert.

In more practical applications, a battery would need to be integrated, as well as sensors, which could then allow any garment made to act as a detector or health monitor.